Biochemistry
by xxxEmzixxx
Summary: Gray and Juvia have been best friends for years, knowing each other throughout High School and now attend the same university. They harbour hidden feelings for each other, both afraid of telling each other the truth in case it ruins their relationship altogether. But now that they live together and are even closer than ever, can they really just remain friends?
1. Introduction & Disclaimer

This is a Fairy Tail fan fiction. I do not own the characters in the story, they belong to Hiro Mashima. I only own the plot. The cover art also belongs to Hiro Mashima.

This story is for mature audiences and will contain lemons/scenes of a sexual nature. If you find this offensive or are too young, please do not read.

This is my first ever fan fiction dedicated to my Fairy Tail OTP, Gray and Juvia. Please note that Juvia will mostly speak in first person, with the occasional dipping into third person. I have done this deliberately.

I am in no way an aspiring writer, I am simply writing this for fun and from gaining inspiration from reading others amazing fan fictions! I hope you will enjoy it with me.


	2. Chapter 1

Juvia POV

'How ya feeling rainwoman? Ya ready for today?' Gajeel asked me. It's 6.00am and Gajeel's phone call woke me up.

'I would feel better if you hadn't of just woken me up at this godforesaken hour! Why are you even up this early?' I groggily croak out as I shift from lying on my side onto my back, pressing the phone to my ear with one hand. My eyes are still closed, I can't bring myself to open them yet.

'Well unlike you, some of us have to adult and get up to go to work. I'm in damn meetin's all day, I ain't gonna have another chance to wish ya luck on ya final exam' he said. This makes me smile. Gajeel is my adoptive brother, he may come across somewhat cold and apathetic to most people, but I know that really he is a big softy on the inside. I finally allow my eyes to open as I sit upright and rest my head against my bedroom wall. I am coming towards the end of my second year at Fairy Tail University, where I study Oceanography. Fairy Tail is Fiore's top University, and I am lucky enough that it is based in my hometown of Magnolia. Magnolia is the first place I ever thought of as home and I think I would of struggled to leave it and Gajeel had I needed to move away for my studies, I would miss them too much.

'Awwww are you worried about me Gajeel-kun?' I reply in a teasing tone, knowing very well this will irritate him, some payback for waking me up.

He grumbles in response. 'Just answer the damn question sprinkler!'.

I let out a small giggle. 'I am fine Gajeel-kun, nothing more than the usual pre-exam nerves. I've been studying my arse off, I am fairly confident I have covered all the material that will come up today'.

'Good' he simply replies.

'How is your business trip with dad? Is he ok?' I ask. After high school, Gajeel decided against further education, he says it's because he isn't very academic. So what did he decide to do instead? He decided to work with our adoptive farther, Jose Porla, in his accountancy business much to our fathers approval and delight. Not academic my arse!

'Yeah it's alright. Dad's his usual charismatic self. He's introduced me to most of his clients based in Crocus, he wants me to take over one of their accounts' he responses.

'Gajeel-kun!' I squeal, 'that's amazing news'

'It's no big deal, all in a days work' he says calmly, but I know he must be at least a little excited. Crocus is Fiore's capital city, and dad has some of his biggest clients based there. Dad must have a lot of faith and trust in Gajeel's abilities if he is handing one of his top clients to him.

'I'm proud of you' I say lovingly. He's been doing so well since he passed all of his accountancy exams a year ago, which he studied for while learning on the job. I'm glad dad is giving him the recognition he deserves.

'Gi Hi hi, thanks Juv. On that note, I'm gonna go before you start getting all teary-eyed on me. Good luck today' he tells me warmly, well the most warmth he can muster.

'Thank you. I will see you in a few days when you get back. Don't get too motion sick on your way home ok! Even if today is my last exam, I still have coursework to do, I won't be able to come and take care of you!' I say lightheartedly. Poor Gajeel, travel does not do him well, but I can't help but tease him, he's my brother after all.

'Shut up! I can take care of myself! Damn rainwoman,' and with that he hangs up. I chuckle as I return my phone to my bedside table.

I sigh as I look at the clock. I don't think I can get back to sleep now, as a slight tinge of nervousness overtakes me for my upcoming exam. I pick up my book from the floor and decide to read a chapter to take my mind away from it for a while. Some people think it's weird that the first thing I do when I wake up is read a book before getting up, most people think it will send them back to sleep, however I find it calming and it puts me in a much better mood for the day.

Once I finish the chapter, I drag myself out of bed and make my way to my bathroom. I reach into the shower and turn the water on. While it heats up I strip off my night top and shorts and throw them into the wash basket. I step into the shower and let the water rush over me, letting the water sooth me and wash away some of the discomfort I feel.

After my shower I wrap a white fluffy towel around my self and walk around my room preparing myself for the day. I choose a pair of light grey jeans, a white tank top and white ballerina pumps from my wardrobe, and get changed. I sit at my dressing table and apply some light make up and brush my hair, which I decide to leave down in it's long, thick, azure waves. I feel a lot more attentive now, as irritating as it was to be woken up so early, I am also grateful to Gajeel for doing so, it is nice to not feel rushed just before an exam. In fact I'm feeling quite content at the moment.

I leisurely walk downstairs to the kitchen when I am surprised to find I am not the first one down there like I usually am. I walk in to find Lucy and Natsu draped over the kitchen table, fast asleep among an array of open text books. The sight makes me giggle, I guess they were up most of the night studying and fell asleep. They are seated right opposite each other, and Natsu's hand is holding on to Lucy's across the table. The sight is adorable. I grab my phone out of my jeans pocket and snap a picture of the sleeping duo. I am sure Mira would love me for this.

After I put my phone away, I gently shake Lucy's shoulder to wake her up. 'Just 5 more minutes' She grumbles as I walk around to the other side of the table and do the same to Natsu.

'Wakey wakey sunshine's. It can't be doing you any good sleeping like that' I say happily as I make my way over to open up the kitchen cupboards. It's now around 7.30am, my normal time of being awake. Despite my moaning earlier, I am actually quite chirpy in the mornings, compared to my housemates anyway.

'Why are you so lively and happy in the mornings Juv?! It's the only time I feel like punching you in the face more than ice princess!' Natsu moans as he stirs from his sleep. Natsu really is not a morning person.

'I don't know Natsu, why are you holding Lucy's hand while you are sleeping?' I retort as I smirk to myself before I turn around in time to see Natsu and Lucy's faces drop to look at their intertwined hands. Lucy's eyes widen and she instantly pulls her hand away from Natsu's with a light pink blush spreading over her cheeks.

'NATSU! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!' Lucy shouts at him. This may seem like an overreaction to a little bit of accidental hand holding, but I know better. Lucy has a crush on Natsu and often gets flustered at contact like this with him. Natsu on the other hand shrugs and acts like his normal dense self.

'What Luce? I don't know what I am doing in my sleep. Plus it's only a bit of hand holding, no big deal' Natsu says calmly, looking at her a bit confused as to why she is angry. Lucy just huffs at him as she gets up from her seat. 'Wow you are really grouchy in the mornings ain't ya Luce'. Bad move Natsu. Lucy glares at him.

'Says you who just threatened to punch my face in just moments ago' I laugh. Not only because I do find Natsu funny, but I also need to distract him from Lucys behaviour towards him before he starts flustering her with more questions. 'Why don't both of you go and get ready, I'm making pancakes for breakfast, they should be ready by the time you come back down'.

At this, Natsu's face lights up. 'YES! I love your pancakes Juv! I'm sorry for threatening you, you know I don't mean it.'

I giggle at him again. 'I know. You would never want to punch anyone more than Gray. That's just crazy talk'.

'Too right! That guy just has a face that's asking to be punched' Natsu responds, as he makes his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Lucy goes to follow him, she turns back to me before she leaves.

'Thanks Juv. For distracting Natsu I mean.' She tells me with a small smile on her face. I smile back at her. 'No problem Luce. Now go and get ready'. With this she nods and leaves the room.

I turn the radio on before I start busying myself with making the pancakes, and cutting up fruit to go with it, dancing around the kitchen and singing along with the music as I do so.

I live in this apartment with Natsu, Lucy, Ezra and Gray. We all study some form of science related degree, and a lot of our modules cross over even though we don't all study the same thing. Lucy studies Astronomy while Ezra studies Psychology. Natsu and Gray both study Environmental Sciences although they are both interested in completely different things. Gray is more interested in glaciers and ice sheets of the artics, and Natsu is more into volcanos, complete opposites of each other.

I have been friends with Ezra, Natsu and Gray since High school. We all got into Fairy Tail University, and this is where we met Lucy in our first year.

The moment I put the kettle on to boil ready to make tea and coffee, Ezra walks into the kitchen and sits down on one of the high stools at the breakfast bar where I am laying out the plates of food so the others can come in and help themselves. She smiles warmly at me.

'Do you know I love coming down here in the morning to see you dancing around this kitchen. It never fails to put me in a good mood for the day. Tell you what, shall I just break it off with Jellal and you can be my wife?' she playfully says. I laugh at her joke.

'Don't say that, I am sure Jellal would look adorable in a kitchen apron dancing around making food for you. I am sure he would do too if you ask him' I giggle in response, then I smirk and decide to embarrass her,' he may even do it wearing nothing but the apron, I am sure he would do it if it's for you'. Erza turns bright red at my comments. How is it she so fierce in just about anything she does, but when it comes to relationship stuff she turns all shy.

'Please don't put that image in my head just before I am about to eat!' Natsu chimes in as he returns to the kitchen, Lucy following in behind him, both looking a lot more refreshed than when I saw them 40 minutes ago.

'Your in a rather playful mood this morning Juvia' Lucy laughs as she takes the seat next to Erza. She leans into Ezra and joins in with my teasing, 'you know Erza, Juvia is right, Jellal will do just about anything for you, maybe you should ask him?'

'S-shut up the both of you! Why would I ask him to do something like that!' Erza stutters as she turns even more red. Me and Lucy just laugh at her. The kettle finishes boiling and I make everyone tea as they help themselves to food. We all have our general morning chit chat, once I'm finished with my food I clear up the kitchen and put everything in the dishwasher.

'It's coming up to 9am, where the hell is Gray?' Ezra asks.

'He stayed up late studying, you know him, always has a habit of cramming in studying at the last minute. I will go and wake him up,' I tell them as I head towards the door.

'Make use of that playful attitude of yours, you've done it to all of us this morning, it's only fair he gets the same treatment' says Lucy. I smirk at them.

'Don't worry I plan too' I say mischievously.

'What are you gonna do?' Natsu asks with his own smug look on his face.

'Simple, I am just going to jump on him' I smile and walk out the door and up the stairs. I am close to all of them, but Gray is my best friend, what most people would not be able to get away with when it comes to him, I can.

He may be my best friend, but unfortunately for me, I am totally and completely head over heels for him. We share flirtatious banter with each other but never anything more, I am way to scared to lose him as a friend to try and take it any further. Especially considering my disastrous track record with relationships, I'm starting to think I'm not really cut out for them. But that doesn't stop me from feeling what I do for him, but I would rather have him like this than not at all.

I slowly open his bedroom door and can see he is still fast asleep on his back, lightly snoring. He looks so cute when he's sleeping. I tiptoe over to his bed desperately trying to hold back my giggle.

Then I jump on top of him and shout 'GRAY! WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD!'.


	3. Chapter 2

Gray's POV

'GRAY! WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD!'

I wake up with a jump and admittedly not the manliest scream. I immediately sit up and my eyes shoot open and as they come into focus I see Juvia sitting in top of me, giggling her head off.

'What the hell Juvia!' I sigh as I throw my upper body back down into the mattress. She leans down to hug my torso, still unable to control her fits of giggles.

'I'm sorry Gray, but I couldn't resist. Plus you have to get up, our final exam is soon!' She says as she calms down. I look at those deep blue eyes of hers and I can't help it when my lips curve into a smile, looking at her glowing face.

She sits back up. Seriously, this girl needs to sit still. I am acutely aware she is straddling my hips, with her looking all flushed from her uncontrollable laughter and with that twinkle in her eye, looking down at me as her hair falls over her shoulders, she looks breathtakingly gorgeous. My cock twitches. Fuck! Not now! This girl has no idea what she does to me, her fidgeting is really not helping.

'Okay! Okay! I'm awake, now get the fuck off me!' I say. That probably came out a little harsher than I meant it to. However, she doesn't even bat an eyelid. Instead she leans down to whisper in my ear.

'I'm sorry Gray-sama, please forgive me' she pouts. It's not a real pout, she knows exactly what she's doing.

Gray-sama. She got dared once during a drinking game to call me that for the rest of the night. In my own drunken state, I may have stupidly admitted to Cana of all people, that I found it cute her calling me that. Cana of course can't keep a secret. Juvia now uses it to butter me up when she's in trouble with me or if she's trying to get me to do something I don't wanna do.

Her saying that while on top of me though, when I am already feeling aroused, is a whole other level. I have to get her off me. The only thing between her and my growing erection is the thin bed sheets, she will surely be in for a shock if she stays there any longer.

'Damn it Juvia! I forgive you, just get up so I can take a shower' I say quickly sitting up, giving her a light slap on her hip, signalling her to move herself. She smirks and slowly gets off me. As she shifts to do so, her leg ever so slightly grazes against my member, and it takes everything in my power not to groan at the sensation. Really Gray - are you really that turned on by her that the tiniest unintentional touch can have this effect you, control yourself for gods sake.

The moment she is off me I shift into a better position to hide myself. She walks towards the door, I watch her curvaceous figure sway as she walks. Just before she leaves she turns back to look at me. The mischievous look on her face has now disappeared and Is replaced with a beaming, innocent smile that makes my heart skip a beat.

'There are some pancakes downstairs with your name on them. Don't take to long Gray.' And with that she leaves, shutting the door behind her. I breath a sigh of relief. She's my best friend, I really need to stop thinking perverted thoughts about her. I just can't help it. I enjoyed that wake up call a bit more than I should have.

I looked at my clock and then I look down at my big problem. If I had more time to spare I would think about taking care of myself, however time is not on my side today. A cold shower it is. As the water rains over me, I still can't take my mind off her. I run my hand through my hair as I lean my forehead against tiled walls of the shower. God damn it, why after all this time does my feelings for that girl never fade. I want her so badly, but I can't act on my feelings for her. I am no good at the relationship thing, I have managed to hurt every other girl I have been involved with. I will not be the source of any pain for Juvia.

Once I'm ready, I head downstairs. Everyone else is already there sat around the breakfast bar. They all turn to look at me. The look on Natsu's face is already pissing me off.

'What you looking at flame for brains?' I say irritably.

'I heard you scream like a little girl. You are a true ice princess' Natsu's grin widens.

'You want to fight me flame breath?!' I yell back at him. He stands up off his chair squaring up to me.

'Bring it on ice prick! I'm all fired up!' Before we could get into it, Ezra grabbed both our heads and knocked them together. 'OWWW' we both yell.

'Stop messing around you two. You need to leave in 15 minutes. I will not have you make sweet Juvia late for the exam' she seethes, the dark aura growing around her. 'YES MAAM!'

Lucy and Juvia just smile at our interaction. I sat down and Juvia leaned over the back of my shoulder to place some pancakes and a coffee down in front of me. 'Eat up Gray. No great brain can function on an empty stomach' she says as she rests her hands on my shoulders before turning to continue with clearing the kitchen up. Her touch instantly relaxes me, and I dig in to the food she gave me.

After I finish eating, myself, Juvia and Natsu head out the door to make the walk towards the University campus. We all have the same exam. Although Juvia studies something different to me and Natsu, we have some of the same modules. Biochemistry being one of them. The walk is unusually silent. Juvia and Nastu can normally chat about anything and everything, over the most random topics.

I look down at Juvia who is looking down at the ground, fiddling with her hands. She's nervous. I give her a light nudge with my elbow. 'Hey, you alright?'.

She looks back up at me with a small smile. 'I'm fine, just a little nervous. I will be okay once we start'. I nod at her statement. We continue to walk in silence until we are standing outside the exam hall.

'Good luck Juvia' I lean down to whisper to her, putting my hand on the small of her back just before we enter, hoping it will give her a small comfort. She gives me that beautiful, genuine smile in return. 'You too Gray-sama, do your best'.

'Hey, what about me? Where are my loving words of encouragement ice prick?' Natsu whines.

'Shut up flame brain. I don't care about you!'

'I wish you luck, Natsu! Give it all you've got' Juvia chimes as she walks in front of us, turning around to give us a quick wink before entering the hall to take her seat. What the hell, it's as if the nervous girl from 5 minutes ago just disappeared into thin air. And with that time is up, we follow her in to take our seats for the exam.


	4. Chapter 3

Juvia's POV

Later that evening, I am in Lucy's room with Erza. We had decided that since all of us have now finished all our exams for the year, that we should celebrate by going to Mira's bar, Devil's Advocate, for drinks and a well deserved, chilled night out.

'How about this one?' Lucy asks as she holds up a stunning black dress against herself. Me and Erza shake ours heads at her.

'Luce, I have no doubt you look sexy as hell in that, but it's a bit over the top for tonight. Remember it's quiz night at Mira's, not club night. Just keep it casual' I tell her. Myself and Ezra were ready 30 minutes ago. I had changed into a simple light blue, off the shoulder crop top with 3/4 length sleeves, highwaisted black jeans and high healed black ankle boots. Erza wore something similar, except she wore a purple cami top. We are always waiting for Lucy when it comes to going out. Anywhere.

'Easy for you to say, you girls look phenomenal without even trying. I guess you're right though, I would look out of place going to quiz night in this. I wish it was club night though, it's been a while she's we've got all dressed up to go out' Lucy sighs. I know casual isn't really her style, she loves to get all dolled up no matter where she is going. I know she's trying to catch Natsu's eye, and doesn't feel she stands out in casual clothes. She shouldn't worry though, she looks great in everything she wears and although I can't say for sure, I think Natsu already likes her a bit more than a friend. He talks about her all the time but it's hard to tell with him.

'Don't worry Luce, in a few weeks we will all be done with coursework, then we will be free for the summer to do as we want! Plus, Gajeel's birthday is in 3 weeks and I plan to ask Mira if she will allow me to hire out the bar for it. We can dress up then too' I say excitedly.

'Your planning Gajeel's birthday for the Saturday night right? How do you plan to convince Mira to shut down the bar for you on her most profitable night of the week?' Ezra asked.

'I have a little trick up my sleeve, plus I won't be leaving her short handed, she will make plenty of profit, perhaps even more than usual' I respond confidently. Erza looks at me, clearly intrigued, but nods and decides not to ask any further questions for now.

'Why don't you put these on, Lucy' Erza throws a pair of light blue skinny jean and a stripy pink crop top at her. 'These pass as casual but also looks super cute on you'.

'Really?' She looks at us, her face lighting up.

'Absolutely! I love that outfit on you. Plus your boobs look amazing in that top' I smile at her.

'Juvia!' Lucy squeals, acting embarrassed, but I can see she's happy with my comment.

'Right now that is settled, get ready quickly. We have already cut into precious drinking time' Erza orders, as we both leave Lucy to get changed. 'You sound like Cana' I laugh at her as we make our way downstairs, where Gray and Natsu are not so patiently waiting in the living room. They are already throwing insults at each other, and challenging each other to a game of pool later, their heads pressed together preparing to start a fight. I can already see Erza getting annoyed at their antics.

I latch myself onto Gray's arm and gently pull him away from Natsu. 'Easy tiger, why don't you save it for the quiz and the pool table'. He looks down at me and hesitates for a moment, I hug his arm tighter and nod over to Erza who has her eyes and fists clenched as she starts to fume. He relents.

'That's it, give in ice prick, you know you can't beat me' Natsu boasts. Ezra hits him over the head, then he quickly shuts up as he pouts at Erza rubbing his head. Gray snorts 'idiot'.

Lucy comes in, now ready to go and we all make our way to the bar. As we are walking, I still haven't let go of Gray's arm, I love feeling the muscles on his arms and shoulders. Lucy, Erza and Natsu are walking ahead of us.

'You know you can let go of me now Juvia,' Gray tells me but doesn't make any effort to push me away.

'Nope! Don't want too!' I chirp, smiling up at him. He looks so handsome in his blue shirt which isn't done up showing his black vest underneath. I can make out the muscles of his chest and his abs through the vest, and it takes everything I have to pull my eyes away before he realises I'm staring. I don't think I was quick enough though, as a devilish smirk plays on his lips.

'Like something you see?' He says with that smug look. I can feel my cheeks becoming red at being caught, but I will not let him have the upper hand, I always win when it comes to teasing, flirtatious banter. He gets embarrassed way too easily. I run one of my hands over his chest and abs, I feel him slightly tense under my touch.

'I was just observing that maybe all this Uni work has taken its toll on your work out routine. These muscles of yours don't seem to be as defined as they usually are' I tease.

'WHAT!' He yells and pushes me off him. I giggle at his reaction. 'I am not slacking, I...' I cut him off by placing a finger over his lips and grabbing hold of his arm once again.

'I'm only kidding Gray-sama' I say innocently, giving him my best puppy dog eyes, I see his face soften, 'there is absolutely nothing wrong with that sexy body of yours'. At this he blushes furiously and turns his head away from me to try and hide it.

'You know, you are the reason everyone thinks we are a couple, you're so clingy' he grumbles.

'I can live with that if everyone thinks that this hunky man is mine, and tonight we are even matching! Look we are both wearing blue,' I squeal excitedly. He lets out an exasperated sigh.

'Give it a rest would ya!' He groans. I let out a giggle, 'you are too much for me sometimes' but he gives me a small smile of defeat.

'Your gonna be my quiz partner right?' He asks as we arrive outside the bar. I shake my head as I finally let go of his arm to push the door to the bar open. I look back at him, he looks a little shocked, I never say no to him.

'I'm not participating tonight. I have some business to sort out with Mira. I'm sure Levy will be your partner instead, since Jet and Droy are not coming tonight. With her on your team you will definitely beat Natsu' I reason, as we step into the bar, 'I will be your pool partner later though'.

I love coming to Mira's bar. It is made up of four floors. The ground floor consists of a large mahogany square bar the the middle of the room with bar stools situated around it. The rest of the room is surrounded by comfortable, plush, black sofas and booths. The room is dimly lit with warm lighting with tea light candles on each table. The second floor is of a similar style, but is the games room, with pool tables. The top floor and the roof terrace make up the top two floors and are the nightclub areas, and have a different look to the rest of the building, being made up of mostly white and grey sofas, tables and bar stools and lit in blue and purple lighting. The roof terrace is surrounded by lush plants and is absolutely stunning. These two floors are only opened to the public on Friday and Saturday nights.

Mira owns and runs the bar, along with her siblings Elfman and Lisanna, and they have done so well with their business since it opened not long after Mira left school. Mira is only a year older than us. Mira's ability to open her bar at such a young age is down to her parents who funded it. However, in the few short years it's been open, Mira has paid back her parents anything they gave to her for it, with interest, and now funds itself.

Everyone in our social group comes from fairly wealthy families. I may have had a rough start in life, I was an orphan. But the moment I was adopted by Jose when I was eight and went to live with him and Gajeel, my life was never the same again. I have never wanted for anything, and I can't help but feel so lucky at the hand life has dealt me.

The bar is fairly quiet tonight, it is Tuesday after all. I spot Mira cleaning a glass behind the bar. Right! Time to get into party planning mode and get Gajeel's party organised. I head over to the bar, Gray following behind me.


	5. Chapter 4

Gray's POV

That girl will be the death of me. She's super playful and cheeky today, I wonder why? Maybe it's because the stress of exams is finally lifted. Juvia is always like that, it's just part of her bubbly personality which I adore, but she's more so than usual and it's pushing me to my limit with the teasing and the touching.

Don't get me wrong, I secretly love her cuddling up to me and any contact with her makes me happy. But when she does my hands itch to touch her back, the urge kiss her neck and make my way up to taste her lips runs through my head. Stop it Gray! I am feeling hot, I suppress the urge to strip my shirt off. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that she won't be my partner for tonight's quiz, I need some time to cool off from her.

Ezra, Natsu and Lucy are making their way straight up to Levy, Cana, Laxus, Freed, Bixlow and Loki, who are situated in the large sofa area in the corner of the room.

'Gray, lets get the first round of drinks for everyone, I need to speak with Mira.' Juvia said. I nod at her.

I yell over to the others 'hey guys! Me and Juvia are getting the drinks in, be over in a minute!'. I follow Juvia over to the bar.

'Good evening Mira!' Juvia greets her, jumping to sit on one of the high bar stools. I stand next to her, resting my arm on the back of her chair. 'Sup Mira' I say.

'Hi Juvia, hi Gray! Good to see you both. I hear you had your last exam today, I bet that feels good' she smiles joyfully at us.

'You bet it does! So good in fact that we have offered to get the first drinks in, beers for the guys and your famous Devil's Advocate for the girls please' I request. The girls love the cocktail to which the bar was named after.

'Coming right up! So what was the topic of the exam you had today?' Mira asks as she begins to prepare the drinks.

'Biochemistry' I simply respond.

'Don't expand, I am bored already!' Mira says holding up her hand. Juvia pouts.

'Don't say that Mira! You may not be interested in the sort of stuff we study, but there is plenty studies that talk about the biochemistry of love which I think you would find fascinating' Juvia argues. I internally laugh at her. She thinks she can sell science to anyone, she finds it hard to accept that sometimes, other people don't find it interesting or they struggle to understand it.

Mira looks at her stoically. 'Love is about emotion, you cannot make science romantic'.

'Of course love is about emotion, but emotions are made up of biological components. One component that always comes up in studies of love is neuropeptide oxytocin which...hmmmmh!' I put my hand over Juvia's mouth to stop her talking, I can already see Mira's eyes glazing over.

'That's enough Juv, leave Mira be' I take my hand away from her mouth, she gives me her pouty face, which is pretty damn cute. 'Anyway, didn't you have something to ask Mira?'

Juvia perks up, the previous conversation forgotten. For someone so smart, she is easy to distract. 'Yes of course! Mira I'm organising Gajeel's birthday. I wanted to ask if I can hold it here?'

'Of course you can, what day? I will check the diary' Mira asks, her angelic smile returning to her face as she puts a glass down and gets out the bars diary.

'Three weeks time...on a Saturday night' Juvia says somewhat shyly.

'Oh Juvia, you know I don't rent out the bar for private hire on Saturdays, it upsets my other customers' said Mira looking genuinely sorry.

'I know, I know! But it has to be on a Saturday night, dad wants to invite all his clients and everyone's parents to it, he wants it on a night where they don't have work that day or the next, plus that is the day of Gajeel's actual birthday. Please Mira, I have something that might persuade you' Juvia pleads, as she takes her phone out and shows her something on the screen.

Mira's face lights up at whatever Juvia has shown her. She tries to grab Juvia's phone out of her hand, but Juvia pulls it away from her, a grin now spread across her face. Mira desperately looks at the phone.

'It's yours if you help me out,' Juvia tells her sweetly. What the hell does Juvia have on Mira?

Mira glares at her. 'Fine, you have my attention, let me grab Elfman to take over the bar. We can talk while Lisanna runs the quiz.' With that Mira sets down the final drink on the tray in front of us. I pay for the drinks and she wonders off to get Elfman.

Before we leave the bar to take the drinks to our friends I turn to Juvia sceptically. 'How the hell have you got Mira to listen to you?'

'I have something to feed her shipping habit' Juvia says, showing me a picture on her phone. The photo is of Natsu and Lucy holding hands across the table while both are asleep. I can't help but chuckle.

'Seriously! She would give in for something like that!' I am surprised. 'Any how, you shouldn't be encouraging her! It will come back to bite you ya know'.

'Yeah, Lucy's gonna kill me. But desperate times call for desperate measures, this place is perfect for what my dad wants me to organise' Juvia explains. There's a little bit of nervousness to her voice, though she quickly recovers.

So her dad is the one who has put her up to the task of organising this massive bash for Gajeel, right when all her coursework is due too. Not only that, he is turning it into an excuse for networking with clients. I have never been too fond of Juvia's farther, something about him just doesn't sit right with me. She is always trying to make him proud of her, like he is of Gajeel, but he hardly pays any attention to her at all. I don't ever breach the subject with her, as she always says she's grateful to him for giving her the privileged, happy life she has. If she's happy, I should be too.

I pick up the tray of drinks and we make our way over to our group of friends. Juvia greets everyone in her normal overly excited way. I also says hi to everyone as I settle the drinks down on the table.

'Hey Levy, will you be my quiz partner? Juvia is ditching me,' I ask the petite bluenette, sparing a glance at Juvia. Juvia rolls her eyes at me but smiles.

'Of course Gray. That was close, I thought for a moment I was gonna have to have Loke as my partner tonight!' Levy says.

'Hey, what's wrong with me! I would have shown ya a good time,' Loke joins the conversation, wiggling his eyebrows at Levy. She sighs exasperatedly.

'That's why! You perv!' Levy retorts back. It's in a light hearted way though.

'What's up man, long time no see' Loke ignores her comment and turns to me holding out his fist to fist bump me.

'I know right! All these exams getting in the way' I respond to him. He then turns to Juvia.

'And Juvia, looking as beautiful as ever,' he tells her as he takes her hand to give it a quick kiss,' How come you're not partnering with Gray, are you finally gonna give me chance' he smirks while he quickly glances at me.

Loke is one of my best friends, and is the only person that knows how I truly feel about Juvia. Loke is a ladies man but is loyal to his friends, so I know he won't make a move on Juvia. That doesn't stop him from trying to push all my buttons deliberately though. And it works, I hate when other guys touch her, even if they are my friends and hers. Before I can show my possessive nature, Juvia gently pulls her own hand away from Loke.

'I'm not participating at all tonight, I will be busying organising Gajeel's birthday party with Mira. But even so, I don't think you could handle me Loke," she counters back and winks playfully at him. My blood boils ever so slightly. Loke chuckles at her response, and mine. Before he can say anything more, Levy cuts in.

'Oh right, that is only a few weeks away! I will finally get to meet your brother you talk so much about Juvia,' Levy says.

'I know, I can't believe you two have never crossed paths before, it will be great for you two to meet,' Juvia smiles. We have only known Levy for a few months. She attends the same University but studies History and Ancient/Modern languages, so our paths never crossed until Lucy introduced her to us after bonding over the same books in the library one day. She quickly fitted into our social group.

'Anyway, I better get over to Mira. Have fun you guys, I will see you after the quiz! We will talk more then.' Juvia struts off. I can't help but stare at her ass as she walks away. Loke clicks his fingers in front of my face.

'Earth to a Gray! Stop being a pervert!' Loke laughs. I scowl at him, but am thankful that Levy has been distracted by Lucy at that moment.

'Says you!' I snap back at him.

'Will you just get with her already man?! I am tired of watching you two eye fuck each other at every opportunity,' he smirks.

'Shut up! You know I have no intention of acting on anything I feel towards her, just stop pushing it will ya. It's been a hard enough day in that respect as it is,' I sigh, running my hand through my hair.

'Okay, okay! I will stop for now. But in all seriousness, and I've told you before, I think you should reconsider. You two suit each other, she's the only girl I've seen who actually makes you happy' He says. I do not respond, instead picking up my beer and taking a long swig of it, I don't even look at him, just stare forward. He sighs. He knows this conversation is over.

'Gray! Come on! The quiz is about to start! You better not let me down!' Levy yells at me.

'Don't worry Lev, I have a score to settle with Natsu, there's no way we are losing!' I respond competitively.

'That's the spirit!' Levy jumps up excitedly. With that I take my seat next to Levy as Lisanna takes to the small stage in the bar to start the quiz.


	6. Chapter 5

Juvia POV

I have just spent the last hour and 30 minutes on the rooftop terrace with Mira, ironing out the details of Gajeel's party. I'm so relieved that she is allowing me to have it here. The layout of her bar ticks all the boxes.

Dad was very specific that the venue needs to be sophisticated enough for his clients and our family friends, a majority which are his clients anyway, we have to always make the right impression. I'm not entirely pleased that dad is turning Gajeel's birthday into a work event, I would prefer it to be our close family and friends who we can be ourselves around. But Gajeel has said it is fine as long as he and all our friends can have somewhere to go and party after the business part of the evening is over.

That's why I thought Mira's would be perfect. The lounge has the mature and refined atmosphere dad wants. Most of the clients and 'adults' will leave around 10pm. That's when those of us belonging to the younger generation can move to the club and terrace to let our hair down for the rest of the night.

Everything is arranged. We went over the food and drink that will be served, the entertainment that will be provided (chosen from Mira's list of recommended entertainers) and everything down to the last detail including what flowers will be displayed on the tables and around the bar, to the lighting of each room. I have even given Mira the guest list and she said she will send out the invitations and manage the RSVPs for me, as she knows i still have coursework to finish. I am so thankful to her, she has made this party planning process so much easier to handle.

By the time me and Mira return downstairs, the quiz is long over and I can see Natsu and Gray in the middle of their game of pool. What is Natsu thinking? We all know Gray is a much better pool player than he is, Natsu barely understands the rules and makes up his own.

It's Natsu's turn. He's holding the cue like a golf club. Lucy is standing besides him looking exasperated.

'Natsu, that is not how you are suppose to hold the cue' Lucy sighs.

'Don't worry Luce, I know what I'm doing!' Natsu responds with his normal confidence, he clearly has no idea what he's doing.

'Just try not to hurt anybody' Lucy admits defeat and steps out of the way.

'FORE!' Natsu shouts as he prepares to swing the cue. Yes you heard me right - swing the cue.

'That's golf you idiot' Lucy huffs. Gray looks amused. Probably because he knows he's going to win.

I decide not to interrupt their game, and go to join Erza who is watching from one of the bar stools by herself. She looks down.

'Hey Erza, you okay? You look upset' I ask her softly as I sit beside her. She turns and gives me a weak smile and hands me a gin and tonic that she had ordered for me.

'I'm fine, thanks Juv. Just feeling a bit lonely tonight' she says quietly.

'You're missing Jellal' I respond knowingly. Jellal attends a different University in Crocus, Fairy Tail did not offer the course he wanted to study, therefore he and Erza are currently handling a long distance relationship. It's been a few weeks since she last saw him. She normally handles it pretty well, but I can tell she's had a bit to drink. Maybe I should get her some water before she turns into drunk angry Ezra which is inevitable if she continues drinking.

'I know it sucks right now Erza, but just think, in a few weeks time it's summer break, you will have a whole two months together. Plus, Gajeel has met up with Jellal while he's in Crocus, and he text me a little while ago to let me know Jellal will be coming back for the weekend to attend Gajeel's party, so you will see him then too' I tell her, hoping this will lighten her mood. And it's seems it did as her head shoots up to look at me.

'Is he really?!' She says excitedly. I smile at her response.

'Yes he is, now will you cheer up? Smile for me please?' I ask pleadingly. She finally gives me a genuine smile.

'Thank you Juvia. Your cheerful attitude always lifts me up. I will stop moping and go and join everyone else. Maybe stop Natsu before he kills somebody with that pool cue' she giggles as she gets up off her stool, gives me a quick hug and makes her way towards the others.

I smile after her then swivel my bar stool around to face towards the bar. I order a small glass of water, I try and drink a glass between every alcoholic drink I have, stops my body becoming to dehydrated and having a terrible hangover the next morning. I take a sip of water.

'Where the hell have you been all night' a deep husky voice whispers in my ear. I almost spit out my water in surprise. I don't need to turn around to know who the voice belongs too. He is supporting himself on the bar with his hands either side of me, leaving me trapped between him and the bar. I can feel his breath on my neck and it sends shivers down my spine.

'I've been with Mira, Gray, you know that' I say as calmly as I can. He swivels my chair back around so I am facing him. He has a smirk plastered across his face, he's also topless. Stripping habit strikes again.

'Why do you look so smug?' I ask.

'I won the quiz and my game of pool with Natsu. It's been a satisfying night. However, you ditched me for both of them. I think that you deserve a small punishment for that' his smirk doesn't waver, in fact he's got a gleam in his eyes.

He's in a good mood, he's had enough to drink to feel tipsy and he's feeling playful. I love this side of Gray on the occasions it comes out. I can't help the pool of heat I feel in my lower stomach, I discreetly clench and rub my thighs together to relieve some of the tension I feel down there. I have to question sometimes if he knows how much he riles me up, surely no one can be this seductive without knowing?

'First we are going to do a shot of tequila, then you owe me a game of pool, me against you. And I won't go easy on ya' he says pulling away from me. He asks the bar tender for two tequila shots. I feel a small sense of relief as I get my personal space back, but that feeling doesn't last for long as he grabs my hand and pours a bit of salt on the back of my hand.

Before I register what he's doing. He brings my hand with the salt up to his lips and runs his tongue along my hand to lick up the salt, his eyes not once looking away from mine as he did so. My heart feels like it's going to jump out of my chest, this is bold coming from Gray. He then lets go of my hand, downs his shot of tequila, then bites into a wedge of lime. His smirk returns to his face as he looks at my shocked expression.

'Your turn,' he tells me as he pours salt onto the back of his own hand this time. He wants me to do the same to him, I feel nervous. I can't help but feel this has an underlying tone to it. No of course not, he's just trying to get back at me for teasing him earlier, and it's working. 'Come on Juv'.

Fine, he wants to play, two can play at that game. Just as he had done with me, I gently bring his hand up to my lips, before I go to lick the salt off him, I innocently stare up at him, although this is anything but innocent, his eyes darken as he holds my gaze as I slowly lick the salt off his hand. I let go of him, take my shot and bite into a piece of lime as seductively as I can. I give him a smile once I've finished.

'Happy?' I ask him. He stands beside me and lightly pushes the small of my back with his hand, making me move towards the pool table. He leans down to whisper in my ear again. 'Very' he responds.

I don't know what to make of his behaviour, but this wouldn't be the first time. He can get a bit more touchy feely when he's had enough alcohol. I know I shouldn't read too much into it.

'You know, I don't really know how to play pool, you have an unfair advantage' I argue.

'No problem, i'll teach you' he says bluntly. Well how can I argue with that. He spends the next few minutes explaining the rules to me. He teaches me how to hold the cue, and I make my first shot, which is a complete failure. He stands behind me and gives my ass a playful slap. I squeal in surprise. Did he just spank me?

'Again Juvia,' he says sternly. I look back at him with a blush on my cheeks. That smirk has still not left his face. He's enjoying watching me squirm. He stands behind me again, this time leaning over me to amend the way I hold the cue, 'try again' he says in my ear, he slides his hands down to rest them on my waist.

I quickly look around but see that no one is paying any attention to us. All our friends have their backs turned on us, facing the bar as they down more shots of their own. How am I supposed to concentrate, I feel so turned on right now.

I quickly shoot again and this time the ball goes into the pot. Gray leans down to me one more time. 'Good girl, you'll be a pro in no time'. He lets go of me to get his own cue to take his turn. I stare at him with wide eyes. What the hell is happening! He looks up at me before he takes his shot. 'I think you've learned your lesson for tonight' he slurs then takes his shot.

The rest of the game is played innocently, no more of what can be perceived as over friendly touching. We leave the bar with Erza, Lucy and Natsu at the end of the night and stumble our way home, clearly all of us are a bit tipsy. Gray is giving me a piggy back, as my feet hurt in my boots. He is still in high spirits but his playfulness has toned down since earlier.

'Hey Juv?' He turns his head to look at me as much as he can with me being on his back.

'Yeah?' I respond.

'Can we have a lazy day tomorrow, and just watch films all day?' He asks.

'Sure, that sounds nice' I sleepily say, resting my head on his shoulder. We are silent for the rest of the walk home.


	7. Chapter 6

Gray's POV

I groan as I wake up. A wave of light nausea washes over me. Although I wasn't too drunk last night, it was enough to make me feel a bit worse for wear this morning.

On top of that the memories of last night flashed through my head. Holy fuck! My actions last night were suppose to tease her, and let out some of my own pent up frustration. But the more I touched her, the more it made me want her. Did I push the boundary with Juvia last night? It was only meant to be a bit of fun and get her back for teasing me all day, but I wonder if I was a bit too audacious?

I look at the clock, it's 8.26am. I get up to have a quick shower, I instantly feel more refreshed. I put on some boxers and my blue and black pyjama bottoms. I won't bother with a shirt, it's not like I am going anywhere today. I make my way downstairs to the kitchen, but stop and lean against the the door frame to enjoy the site that welcomes me most mornings.

As always, Juvia is the first one up, dancing to the radio around the kitchen as she makes breakfast. Even after a night of drinking, she is still so perky. I can see she has also showered, her her hair is still slightly damp, but like me she has just got changed back to her sleepwear, black and pink laced shorts and top, and has thrown on her sheer pink chiffon dressing gown. Seems like she doesn't plan on leaving the apartment today either.

She gives me a wide smile when she turns to find me at the door. 'Good morning Gray. How are you feeling?'

'I may have a minor hangover' I groan. She gives me a sympathetic look, and comes over to me, gently takes my arm leading me to sit down at the breakfast bar. I watch her as she walks around the kitchen opening various cupboards and draws. She comes back and puts a mug of coffee, a large glass of water and two pills in front of me.

'Take those, drink all of that water then have your coffee. You will feel better in no time. Would you like me to make you a bacon roll?' She asks, her smile never once leaving her face. I feel relieved. She's acting like her normal self around me after last night. I'm glad I didn't upset her in anyway.

'You don't have to Juv' I respond as I grab the tablets and wash them down with the water.'It's no problem, I'm making one for myself anyway' she says.

'Well if that's the case, then I won't say no.' I love Juvia's cooking. I watch her work. She is going to make someone the perfect wife someday. That thought brings a sharp pain to my chest, but I quickly brush it off. She places the bacon roll in front of me and she sits down with hers opposite me. We share general chit chat as we eat. I start to feel much better after being watered and feed.

'You still up for a movie marathon?' I ask her.

'Absolutely, I have already brought my blanket with me in preparation' she smiles excitedly while picking up the mauve coloured blanket she had sitting on one of the empty chairs.

We move into the living room. It's a cosy space, with white walls, light wooden flooring, a cream rug in the middle of the room with a light wood coffee table on top of it. The table and rug surrounded by a cream double corner sofa adorned with mink and cream cushions. In the evenings, the lighting is soft making it a very relaxing space. We pull the mink coloured curtains across the large, almost floor length windows, so it's dark.

I take a seat in one of the corners of the sofa, the seat me and Juvia always occupy. She grabs the remote off the coffee table and I make room so she can sit between my legs, her back and head resting on my chest. When she's comfortable, she spreads her blanket over the top us.

This is always how it is when we watch movies. It's the very reason I suggested it in the first place. It's the one time I can be close to her, wrap her up in my arms and just feel her body against mine, and no one judges us about it. Natsu does the same with Lucy and it's just seen as a bond between close friends who are perfectly comfortable in each other's company.

I know the others won't get out of bed until at least noon, so we will get through at least one film before they join us. We pick a film and watch it in comfortable silence, except for the odd moments where Juvia giggles when she finds something funny. It's calm, peaceful and makes me feel content.

As we are about to chose our second film, the other three finally emerge having been recovering from their own hangovers by sleeping it off. They opt for making several large bowls of popcorn over having any proper food. Natsu and Lucy take their place on the other corner of the sofa. Erza however, is a lot more disruptive to the otherwise tranquil morning I've had.

'Juvia get over here! I want to snuggle under the blanket with you too!' Ezra demands as she practically pulls Juvia out from between my legs, so now she's now sitting next to me instead. Juvia is Erza's surrogate cuddle buddy when Jellal is away, which annoys the heck out of me.

'What's the big idea Erza! We were comfy the way we were!' I say irritably. Juvia repositions herself so her knees are up to her chest, her arms hugging her knees leaning towards Erza and now resting her head on Erza's shoulder, while Ezra sits in a similar position and rests her head on top of Juvia's, both girls smiling contently with the blanket wrapped around both of them.

'Don't be greedy Gray, you can have her back later. It's my time now' Ezra says stubbornly. I just huff and sulk, annoyed that Erza took Juvia away from me. To make it worse the girls chose a soppy, sad romantic film to watch, which left me and Natsu bored out of our minds, and ended with the girls crying their eyes out by the end of it.

I am for once thankful to Natsu for choosing a scary film next. I know Juvia hates these type of films, and sure enough not long into it, Juvia had left Erza's side to come back to sit in our original position, but this time spends a lot of time hiding her face in the crook of my neck when she gets scared. Lucy sequels a lot and does the same with Natsu, who looks a little smug every time Lucy cuddles up to him more. Did he chose this film on purpose?

A few more movies and a takeaway pizza later, the other three have fallen asleep. Myself and Juvia are still awake and have hardly moved all day.

'You know Gray, when we first met, I would have never of guessed that you like to cuddle,' Juvia let out a small tired giggle.

'I don't like to cuddle' I bluntly say, glad she can't see the small blush tinting my cheeks. 'Except for you. You are the only exception,' I whisper softly, and I wonder if she can hear the raw honesty in my words. She hums quietly in acknowledgement.

'That's sweet, Gray-sama' she whispers, and not long after falls asleep on my chest.

I take the moment to just drink in everything about her. Her soft, porcelain skin. Silky, long blue hair. Her full pink lips. I brush away some strands of her hair off her face, and lightly cup her cheek. The temptation to lean in and place a kiss on her lips overwhelms me.

I let go of her face and lean my head back against the sofa and let out a frustrated sigh. We have grown even closer the last year since we've been living together. It's getting to be too much. As much as I don't want to, I think it's time to pull away from her for a while. It's for our own good.


	8. Chapter 7

Juvia's POV

The last three weeks have flown by and have been rather uneventful as everyone shuts themselves in their rooms to finish their remaining pieces of coursework of the year.

Thankfully I managed to finish and submit mine a couple of days ago which allowed me to help Mira with the final details of Gajeel's party, and the night of the party is finally here.

Im almost ready to go, I have to be there early to meet with dad before the party starts. I check myself in the mirror one more time. I've opted to wear an elegant short dress which has a longer tail at the back, the skirt slightly fans out. It's light gray, the mesh overlay of the dress embroided with splashes of light blue patterns across the dress. It has mesh straps which pull down into a low v neck slit, showing a bit of cleavage. The outfit is complete with a pair of silver high heels.

I have once again left my hair down in long, soft curls. I have opted for dark smokey eye makeup and have applied a nude coloured lipstick to my lips. Happy with my appearance, I make my way to the living room, where Gray is already waiting, watching tv on the couch. He offered - when I say offered, Erza volunteered him - to help me bring a few final touches to the party and is coming early with me.

I approach him cautiously. I've barely seen him the last few weeks, I can't help the feeling he's been avoiding me. He seems alright with everyone else, joining in with conversations normally but seems to leave the room every time I enter and only gives short greetings on his way out. He doesn't even look at me. Is he mad at me? I wonder what I have done wrong?

'Gray?' I say quietly. He turns to face me, I see his eyes widen for a brief moment followed by a blank stare.

'You look beautiful, Juv' he says warmly, finally giving me a small smile. It's the first smile he's given me in weeks. Maybe I am overthinking it and it was all in my head? He stands up and picks up one of the small boxes we need to take.

'You ready? He asks. I nod, pick up the other box, and head out the door.

We walk in complete silence. No, this isn't normal, I don't believe it's me being paranoid. I decided i've had enough of him giving me the cold shoulder. 'Gray, are you mad at me?' I inquire bluntly.

'Why would I be mad at you?' He states back. Again, he doesn't even turn to look at me, doesn't show any emotion.

'Well I don't know, that's why I'm asking. You've barely said a word to me in weeks. I feel like you've been avoiding me' I respond. My voice is quiet, his words upset me. The fact he didn't just come out and say no gives me a good indication that something is wrong. He's trying to dodge the question.

He sighs frustratedly. 'It's nothing alright, I'm just stressed out with all the coursework that's due.' He still refuses to look at me, and makes no attempt to reassure me.

'I don't believe you. You've been perfectly happy talking to everybody else, so what is it?' I ask bitterly. His emotionless face turns into a frown.

'Just drop it Juvia!' He raises his voice before pulling the bar door open and heading inside. I go to retort when I notice dad is already here, this issue will have to wait until later.

'Juvia, there you are. Ah! And Mr Fullbuster, good to see you again.' Dad greets us, holding his hand out to shake Gray's.

'Good evening Mr Porla, excuse me why I go and tend to this,' Gray signals to the box in his hands, also manages to grab the one in my hand as well, and walks towards the bar where Mira is waiting.

'Juvia, care to explain why Silver's son is assisting you?' Dad asks. There is agitation in his voice. I look at him confused.

'He's my housemate dad, he offered to help me bring everything over.'

'Do not have the children of any of my clients 'offer to help you' with menial tasks again. Especially to that of which they are a guest. A guest should remain as so, not be heavy lifting on your behalf' he tells me sternly.

That is absolutely absurd, me and my friends always help each other with events, it's just common decency and that we want to help each other. But then, what should I expect from dad by now. He is always critical, nothing I ever do is completely right in his eyes.

'And this venue, Juvia. It will do, but couldn't you have chosen somewhere more high profile?' He is calmer, but his voice is still rigid. In translation this means he doesn't hate it, however it won't bring in as much publicity as he wants. He can't say that though as this is suppose to be for Gajeel's birthday, not promoting himself, his business or place in society.

My blood starts to boil, can he just stop thinking about business for one night and just enjoy the moment with his children? I expected this reaction from him, but it doesn't make me feel any less worthy than I already feel. I deliberately chose Mira's bar. Not only is it Gajeel's favourite place to go out, filled with such good memories with our friends, but it technically fits all of dads requirements he asked of me. Had that not been the case, I would have still gone with it, Gajeel's happiness will always be my priority.

'However, on the plus side you look stunning my dear, perfect attire for this occasion, if it's one thing you know how to do, it's how to present yourself well' now he smiles. It's not a warm smile though, it's sly and conniving.

There it is, all I've ever been good for. Standing there looking pretty, smiling, while keeping my mouth shut. Being the trophy daughter that he can promote as a trophy wife to the sons of his rich clients. He's never indicated that he will force a marriage on me, however I'm quite sure it's his angle for me to secure someone he deems a worthy husband. One that will boost his status.

Everyone I have dated in the past has been pushed on me by dad, all have been disastrous. All of them egotistical and controlling. They are charming and attentive at first, until one day they're not. I've come to the conclusion it must be something to do with me, I must do something that turns these seemingly decent men into monsters. I am only 20 years old and have already had such horrible experiences with men.

Don't think I don't appreciate everything Dad has done from me. He adopted me, sent me to the most prestigious schools and has given me the best chance in life. I have never had to worry about finances, and I always have a home to go to. But he is not the loving, doting parent I had dreamt of when I spent my years in the orphanage. I have to wonder why he adopted children in the first place, he doesn't exactly spend anytime with us, even when we were younger. He's never once hugged me.

'Well, well! Look who I found. The world's best party planner,' I hear a gruff voice behind me. I momentarily forget the hopelessness I feel, and jump excitedly into the arms of the man behind me.

'Gajeel-kun! Happy Birthday!' I squeal loudly. Gajeel is my rock, I adore him.

'Thanks sprinkler' Gajeel says as he returns my tight hug. Gajeel is not a hugger, most of the time he just returns my hugs with an awkward pat on the back, but he fully wraps his arms around me. It almost feels protective.

'Juvia! How many times do I have to tell you to act mature. You are not a child. I will be back soon, do not wonder too far. I have important people for you to meet' Dad scolds before he turns to walk towards the first group of guests that have just arrived. I flinch at his words, Gajeel gives our dad a quick steely glare.

I step out of Gajeel's arms. He rests his hands on my shoulders. 'I heard every word he said to ya. Everything is as I want it, don't let him tell ya otherwise. Thanks for organising all this Juv'.

'You are very welcome Gajeel-kun. As long as you are pleased, I have accomplished everything I wanted to tonight' I give him a bright, genuine smile.

'Come, lets have a drink before the riffraff arrives. Something strong' he indicates for me to follow him to the bar, where Gray is seated, Mira standing behind the bar. Mira greets us and immediately hands us both a glass of champagne, them heads straight off to help Lisanna with serving the arrival drinks to the incoming guests.

'What's up ice prick' Gajeel's greeting for Gray.

'Long time no see iron face' Gray responds.

The two men continue to chat amongst themselves, while I stand next to Gajeel quietly. So Gray is perfectly happy to converse with Gajeel, but continues to pay no mind to me. The apprehension I felt earlier quickly returns. I abruptly down the remains of my champagne, grab another glass, and walk away without looking back. I don't want to be rude to Gajeel, but between the issues with my dad and Gray, I've already had enough. Tonight was suppose to be enjoyable, I could anticipate that attitude from my dad, but not Gray.

I see Jellal sitting with his sister, Meredy, who I am good friends with. I go to sit with them for a while as the rest of the guests flow in.

'I can't believe Ezra hasn't made it here yet. She is so excited to see you, I thought she would be the first one here' I explain to Jellal, who can't help the grin on his face. They are such a cute couple, even if you don't know them, all you have to do is see the way they look at each other to know how they adore one another. At that moment, my dad appears.

'Juvia, come. There are a few people I would like to introduce you to.' It's an order, not a request. I tell Jellal and Meredy and I will catch up with them later and trail after dad.

As expected, for a majority of the evening I am introduced to an array of dads clients, all who conveniently have sons around my age. This is the only time dad sings my praises, as he acts like a devoted father who cherishes his only daughter. Each guy eyes me up and down with a devilish smirk. It makes me uncomfortable. Even so I stand there and smile. Only speaking when spoken to. I hate it.

Eventually, we get to someone I already know very well.

'Weisslogia, Sting' my dad greats them. Weisslogia is one of dads top clients. Sting is his son. 'I hope you are having a good time'.

'It's wonderful Jose. What a great venue, I have never been before, but the service has been splendid' Weisslogia praises. I internally smirk, it is a small win against my dad.

'Well I have Juvia to thank for that. She arranged everything' dad says in a proud tone. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. 'Juvia, why don't you entertain young Sting for a while, I have some things to discuss with Weisslogia.' And at that, dad turns his back on me and the older men talk.

Sting has a cheeky grin on his face. 'If only he knew how well you entertain me' Sting leans down to whisper in my ear flirtatiously. I can't help the giggle I let out.

'Not sure our type of relationship is quite what he had in mind when he goes parading me around like a show horse' I respond. Sting hums in agreement. I have known Sting a long time. To put it bluntly, we are friends with benefits.

Sting knows the extent of what I have been through in relationships. In turn, I know that his father has forbidden him from being with the girl he truly wants, Yukino. I met her once. A lovely, beautiful girl. But is not from a family of wealth nor status. Her and her family suddenly moved away without warning about six months ago, Sting hasn't been able to track her down since. Myself and Sting are not stupid, we are sure it has something to do with his farther.

Me and Sting get on well, but we both agree that we are not romantically compatible. However, when one or both of us feels the need for an escape just to feel anything other than hurt and sorrow, we sleep together. No strings attached, no feelings involved. Just fucking. It's been a while since the last time though.

'So how about it? Want me to entertain you?' He says suggestively. I grin back at him.

'After the night I've had, I wouldn't mind the distraction. Keep me company for the evening?' I respond. His response was to slip his arm around my waist and lead me to the bar. The closer we are, the more our parents will leave us alone.

'So the real party begins in 20 minutes right?' Sting asks. It's coming up to 10pm, when all the clients leave and we can go upstairs to the club.

'It sure does' I smile at him. We grab a drink and clink our glasses together.


	9. Chapter 8

Gray's POV

I'm sat at the bar, speaking with Gajeel. Juvia is standing beside him, not saying anything and staring at the ground. She caught me off guard earlier, she didn't accept my coursework excuse like I thought she would, she's not normally confrontational. When she challenged me about it I didn't know what to say to her, and I still don't. It's easier right now to ignore her. I know i'm being a jerk, I know she doesn't deserve it, she's done nothing wrong. I just feel so conflicted.

She looks gorgeous. I'm desperately trying not to look at her, only occasionally glancing at her in my peripheral vision. I can see she is in deep thought, until she suddenly downs her drink, grabs another and storms off. Gajeel also notices and gives me a skeptical look.

'What did ya do?' He asks, furrowing his brows.

'What do you mean 'what did I do?' Shit, how does he know.

'You two are normally glued at the hip. Ya didn't even so much as glance at each other. So I ask again, what the hell did ya do? I swear to god stripper if you...' I cut him off before he gets too angry.

'Stop! Okay yes, we are not exactly talking at the moment. Yes, it is my fault. Juvia is upset because I can't share this particular problem with her. No, I am not going to share it with you' I flatly respond. However, he appears to calm down.

'You won't tell her, she questions you, you get defensive and ignore her. Have I got the jist of that correctly?' He responds composedly.

'Hit the nail on the head.' I reply as I take a sip of my whiskey. I am thankful in this moment that Gajeel can read between the lines.

'Been there, done that. Just don't leave it too long to get things straight stripper.' He pats me on the back as he turns to greet his guests.

I decide to sit alone for a while, until someone sits next to me. I look up from my glass. There sits someone I am really not in the mood to deal with right now. Sorano. She is Jose Porla's assistant and a well known social climber. We have met a few times at these events, and every single time she hits on me. I have always brushed her aside, she's not my type at all. It's undeniable that she is an attractive girl, but she's a snake. Tonight, she has her long silver hair pull up into a high pony tail. She wears a short white dress which shows way too much skin to be considered classy.

'Good evening Gray' she greets, already leaning into me. I gently push her away.

'Sorano,' I respond irritably. Turning away from her I take another sip of whisky.

'Awwwww already giving me the cold shoulder? You normally at least allow a little conversation my icey prince' she says teasingly.

'Sorry. I'm not in the mood. Leave me alone' I make no effort to be polite or hide my annoyance.

'Such a shame. Well if you change your mind, I will be around' she doesn't appear to be disheartened. She slid off the bar stool, stroked her hand across my shoulders as she walked by me and with that left. I'm glad she didn't push it.

I scan the room and my eyes fall back upon Juvia. She is with her farther, politely greeting guest after guest, as they make their procession around the room. This is a normal occurrence at these gatherings. Jose Porla, flaunting his elegant and charming daughter to every young man he deems a suitable match for her, while she obediently follows him. And I hate it. What I secretly loath more is that I have never been one of those men that her dad has tried to encourage her to be with, even though my own dad is one of his clients. He even tried it with Natsu when they first met for crying out loud. Am I simply not good enough for her even in her dads eyes?

Not one of those guys shows disinterest in her, every single one looks over her hungrily, not once removing their stare from her while she is in their presence. I can't really blame them, she is a sight to look upon.

To someone who doesn't know her well, you would never get the impression she was uncomfortable as she gracefully works the room, smiling the whole time.

I know better though. Jose has trained her well on how to hold her posture. But I see the occasions she unconsciously attempts to wrap her arms around herself defensively, but then remembers and forces herself to change her position so her hands are held together behind her back in a more open and confident demeanour. The smile that adorns her face is forced, and her eyes don't shine as they do when she is genuinely happy. Fuck, why was I such an ass to her? I'm supposed to be her friend, and all I've done is make what was always going to be a unpleasant evening for her, worse. I will apologise to her later when the formal part of the night is over.

Ezra, Lucy and Natsu finally arrive with Levy and Cana also in toe. They join me at the bar, along with Jellal and Meredy. The moment they are reunited, Ezra and Jellal are inseparable and go off into their own world, only having eyes for each other. The rest of us drink and talk amongst ourselves, occasionally conversing with other guests that we know.

I am finally starting to cheer up and have a good time, when I take another glance at Juvia. She has just greeted Sting Eucliffe and his father. I notice how her body becomes a lot more relaxed, her posture is less forced and her smile more natural when she talks to Sting. I see Sting lean towards her with a mischievous grin. What surprises me more is she giggles and smirks at him in return. I know they knew each other, but since when did they become so friendly?

He wraps his arm around her waist and leads her towards the opposite side of the bar to me. I feel my chest prickle, my body tense and clench my fists. The distance I have created between us has done absolutely nothing to diminish my feelings for Juvia and that familiar unwanted sensation I get when I see her with another man corses through me. It takes a lot to hold back the urge to stomp over there and drag her away from him.

'Gray come on! Everyone is heading upstairs' Lucy calls, pulling me out of my thoughts, although she is already half way to the stairs, hers arms linked with Natsu. It's 10pm, the club has opened. I see Juvia and Sting also making their own way there. Stings arm still circled around her. I scathingly glare after them.

'Down boy, take it easy. Lets go and get stupidly drunk' Loke says lowly and pats me on the shoulder.

'When did you get here?' I ask of his sudden appearance.

'Dude, I've been here for the last 15 minutes. You've been too busy trying to blow Stings head off with your mind,' he jokes. 'Now come on!'

Juvia's POV

Finally, I can relax now dad and his clients have gone home. I can join my friends for the first time tonight.

'Oh! Gajeel-kun, I have someone for you to meet, you've never met Levy before!' I say excitedly to my brother and drag him to where Levy is standing with Cana.

'Levy, I want to introduce you to my brother, Gajeel. Gajeel-kun this is Levy' they both look at each other.

'A little girl?' is Gajeel's reaction.

'GAJEEL-KUN!' I snap at him. Really that's what he comes out with?!

'Hey! I'm not a kid!' Levy whines.

'Yeah, whatever. Come shrimp, any friend of Juvia's is a friend of mine, i'll buy ya a drink,' and with that he grabs Levy's arm and dragged her to the bar. Charming as always Gajeel, I think sarcastically.

'I can walk by myself you know! You don't have to drag me! And don't call me shrimp!' I hear Levy protest, her voice getting quieter as they walk away from us.

'They would make a cute couple' Cana chimes in, her cheeks are rosy from the alcohol, 'look at you lot all coupling up, and I'm here all alone.' She doesn't look unhappy though as she downs her drink.

'You will meet someone right for you one day Cana. I'm sure they will be someone who can out drink you. Plus I'm not coupling up with anybody,' I respond.

'If there is someone who can out drink me, I will make them mine straight away!' She laughs. 'And don't play dumb with me. I've seen you and Sting getting cosy. What's the deal?'.

'It's nothing Cana, honestly. We just do it to get our parents off our backs' I sigh.

'You 'do' it huh?' She slurs out with a mocking grin. I feel my cheeks heat up slightly.

'I didn't mean it like that Cana!' I can't have Cana know the extent of my relationship with Sting, I would never hear the end of it. No one knows about us. I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a secret that we hook up, but neither of us go flaunting that information either.

'I'm kidding Juv! But if you get a chance, get a piece of that! He's hot!' I roll my eyes at her.

The night goes on, I drink and dance with Lucy, Cana, Meredy and Levy. Mira and Lisanna join us when they come off their shift. Erza and Jellal left early, no doubt to make up for lost time. Gajeel spends his night drinking and talking with our friends. I have caught glimpses of Gray who has spent a majority of his time glued to the bar with Loke, Natsu occasionally joins them, switching his time between them and Lucy.

It's coming up to midnight and I decided to go down to the lounge to pack up a few bits left over from the party. I am the only one down there. Or so I thought.

'I'm offended I didn't get an invite to the after party Juvia,' I hear a mans voice behind me. I jump in shock and turn to find the last person I ever wanted to be alone with.

'Bora!' I just managed to breath out. It's like all the air was knocked out of me.

'Hello Juvie' his voice is taunting. He reaches out to touch my face, I immediately pull back.

'Don't touch me,' I sneer at him in a brief moment of bravery. I go to run away but he grabs hold of my wrist tightly, to the point it hurt, pulling me back.

'Now now Juvia, where are your manners. I was jus...' he gets cuts off.

'Let go of her arsehole' a calm but threatening voice says behind me. I breath a sigh of relief. Sting grabs Bora's arm and removes him from me. He grabs hold of my waist and pulls me to him protectively. He glares at Bora.

'How dare you show yourself in her presence. Get the hell out of here before I beat the crap out of you' Sting tells him with the same cautionary tone. Bora holds his hands up.

'Fine, i'll go for now. I will be seeing you soon though Juvie' And with that Bora leaves. I hate the way he constantly says my name in every sentence, it gives me the creeps. What was he doing here? What did he want? What would he have done if Sting didn't show up?

'Hey, are you okay?' Sting whispers in my ear, he doesn't let me go. I nod and look up at him.

'Can we go?' I whisper back, our faces incredibly close together.

'Yeah sure' he responds. I place my hand around the back of his neck and pull him down gently into a kiss. He kisses back without hesitation. It starts out sweet and reassuring, but soon turns into lust and need.

'Do you want to say goodbye to your friends?' He asks breathlessly when we pull away from the kiss, but don't leave each other's arms.

'No. I will text Gajeel to let him know,' I just want to get away from here. He nods as we leave straight away.

Gray's POV

I saw Juvia head downstairs by herself. I thought this would be a good opportunity to speak with her privately and apologise for my behaviour towards her.

But when I get to the bottom of the stairs the first thing I see shatters my heart. Juvia and Sting in each other's arms, kissing passionately. I quickly head back up the stairs and around the corner before they see me. In that moment all I felt was anger. I want nothing more but to use Sting's face as my personal punching bag. I felt so lost at the same time.

I see Sorano making her way down the stairs, looking like she is heading home.

'Sorano, fancy coming home with me tonight?' I don't need to beat around the bush with this girl. I need a distraction - anything - to take away the burning pain I feel in my chest right now.

She gives me a provocative smile. 'I would never say no to you Gray'.


	10. Chapter 9

Juvia POV

I stir awake, it takes me a moment to remember where I am. I realise I'm in Sting's bed, naked, wrapped up his white bed sheets. I look over my shoulder to see Sting still sleeping peacefully. I slowly sit up and look to the alarm clock on the side. It's only 7.40am. If I get up and leave now I should get home before anyone else in the apartment wakes up before they realise I didn't sleep in my own bed last night. I swivel myself so my legs hang out the bed, preparing to stand up.

'So that's how it is huh? You use me and abuse me, then try to slip away while I'm asleep,' Sting murmurs as he wakes up. I know he's kidding.

'Oh darn! You caught me!' In a sarcastic disappointed tone, I look back over my shoulder again. He chuckles. 'But in all seriousness, I am going to get a move on, get home before everyone realises I've been out all night and starts asking questions' I turn to stand up, but he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.

'Does that mean you don't have time for one more quick round?' He breathes into my neck. I instantly feel that familiar rush in my belly. I may not have feelings for Sting in a romantic way, but he is still good looking and rather skilled in bed. I give him an amused look.

'Hmmmmm...well we're both already naked, so I guess that saves some time' I respond teasingly. He doesn't waste anytime time pulling me back down to lay on the bed. I giggle at his playfulness.

He positions himself on top of me, pinning my arms above my head and immediately attacks my neck with kisses, trailing down to my collarbone, the valley between my breasts and eventually taking my nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the sensitive bud. I respond with a throaty moan.

His hand finds its way between my legs as he starts rubbing fast, small circles on my clit, and I can't help but grind against it. It certainly didn't take me long until I was ready for him. I wrap my legs around his waist pulling him closer. He promptly gets the message and his lips make their way back up to my neck, his fingers stop their ministrations on my core to run his hand around my body until it reaches my thigh. He hitches my leg over his shoulder and positions himself at my entrance. He enters me in one swift motion, we both groan at the sensation. We set a hard and fast pace, our breathing growing heavier by the second. I clung on to his shoulders, my moans became louder, I could feel my release building.

Sting pushes himself up to grab the headboard of the bed with both his hands, supporting himself as his thrusts become even faster, and harder. That was enough to push me over the edge, I cry out as my body shook uncontrollably. It was only a few thrusts later that he followed my lead and found his own release, groaning lowly.

He collapses on top of me, we both take a moment to come down from our highs. Once he's caught his breath, he gives me a quick kiss on my shoulder and rolls off me. I eventually gather the strength to get off the bed, and start getting ready to leave. I throw on the jeans and black tank top I picked up from home on our way to Stings last night when I went to drop off a few bits from the party.

'Thanks for last night. And I don't just mean the sex!' I tell him sincerely as I run a brush through my hair. I am truly grateful to Sting for fending off Bora. I would say that I am normally a person who can stand up for myself, but Bora provokes a fear in me that has me crumbling to my knees at the sight of him.

'Anytime Juv. You know I'm here for you. And I don't just mean the sex,' he smiles at me, repeating my words which makes me laugh. I swing my black hand bag over my shoulder. Sting hasn't bothered to get out of bed but he starts to move when he sees I'm ready to leave.

'Don't get up on my account, I can show myself out,' I tell him as I walk over to him to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. 'Always a pleasure doing business with you, Mr Eucliffe.'

He waves me off from his bed as I slip out the bedroom door and leave his apartment. I walk out into the fresh air. It's warm but with a light morning breeze. Considering the happenings of last night, I feel light and content. I normally feel like this after a night with Sting. I wish all relationships could be as easy as the one we share, it's just so uncomplicated. He doesn't live far, so it only takes me 10 minutes to leisurely walk home.

I open the apartment door as quietly as I can, everything is silent. It appears I was right, it was still too early for everyone else to be up. I walk past the door to the kitchen to make my way up to my room.

'Where have you been all night?!' Gray's sharp voice startles me before I can take the first step. The easiness I felt immediately evaporates. I reluctantly turn to face Gray who is now leaning against the kitchen door frame with his arms crossed. He looks angry. But why?

'Gray, you're awake already,' my voice is quiet.

'You spent the night with Sting right?' He says bluntly as he glares at me.

'How do you...' he doesn't let me finish my question.

'I saw you with your tongues down each other's throats,' the sharpness in his voice rips through me. Why is he so mad?

'It's really none of your business Gray,' I respond as I turn away to go to my room. I don't like where this conversation is going, I can feel the argument building from it if I stay.

'I make it my business when I feel my friend has been taken advantage of when under the influence of alcohol,' Is he kidding me? I am starting to feel mad, his tone is not that of a concerned friend, I'm not sure what it is but it has me on guard.

'He did not take advantage of me. And not that I have to defend myself or him to you, but it's not the first time, so do not go around accusing Sting of anything!' He looks surprised for a moment, then almost looks...hurt?

'So what, you are some kind of fuck buddies? Is that it?! I didn't think you were that kind of girl, Juvia' his voice is venomous, he faces away from me. What is wrong with him?!

'What the hell does that mean?! Why are you so mad?!' Now i'm angry, I do not like what he is insinuating. I have never once regretted sleeping with Sting, why is he trying to make me feel guilty?

He doesn't get a chance to answer as there is a knock on the door. I immediately go to answer it, in hopes it will defuse the situation. I open it to find someone unexpected.

'Sorano?' I ask questionably. She just smiles at me then stares behind me at Gray.

'Sorry, I just left my coat here,' she said taking her coat off the hock on the back of the door. 'See you Gray' she winks at him then turns back to me, her grin says it all. 'Juvia.' She leaves straight afterward.

I turn to look at Gray across the hallway. He's running his hand through his hair nervously. I am seething.

'You hypocrite! You have the nerve to ignore Juvia for weeks, Juvia tried to talk with you yesterday, but all you did is snap at her! Then you feel you have the right to judge Juvia's relationship with Sting, when you have gone and done the exact same with that witch of all people' I am shouting at him now. Tears fall from my eyes, they are tears of rage.

'Juvia...I...'

'NO! Don't come near Juvia! Leave Juvia alone!' I storm past him. I pass Ezra at the top of the stairs as she comes out her room.

'Juvia! What's the matter?' She asks in concern.

'Sorry Ezra, Juvia really just wants to be on her own right now' I storm past her and slam my bedroom door after myself.


	11. Chapter 10

Gray's POV

'You hypocrite! You have the nerve to ignore Juvia for weeks, Juvia tried to talk with you yesterday, but all you did is snap at her! Then you feel you have the right to judge Juvia's relationship with Sting, when you have gone and done the exact same with that witch of all people.' Juvia is yelling and tears streaming down her face.

Fuck! Fuck! I've gone way over the line. It has been along time since I've heard Juvia speak in third person. It is an old habit she had taken to using as a defence mechanism, talking as if the situation isn't happening to her but to someone else. She used to talk like that all the time but her dad had forced her to stop when he adopted her. It stills slips out occasionally when she's angry or scared.

'Juvia...I...'

'NO! Don't come near Juvia! Leave Juvia alone!' She rushes past me. I watch her disappear up the stairs.

I've fucked up. I've let my jealousy get the better of me, and I've hurt her. The thing I was trying to avoid doing in the first place. She has never been angry with me, and it's a dreadful feeling. She has every right to be angry, everything she said is true.

Erza comes down the stairs, staring at me.

'We're going out for a walk Gray,' she must of heard at least the last part of mine and Juvia's fight, there's no way she didn't. I expected her to be more furious, but she appears calm. Her voice is still stern though.

'Okay,' I respond meekly. I turn to walk towards the front door.

'For gods sake Gray, put some clothes on first!' She tells me frustratedly. I look down and indeed, I am only in my boxers. I run upstairs to change and join Erza outside once I'm done.

We walk in silence for a while, until we reach the little coffee shop on the corner of Magnolia's promenade. We go inside to grab ourselves a coffee, then take a seat at one of the tables outside overlooking the river.

'So what happened Gray?' Erza finally speaks up. I sigh and tell her everything from Juvia confronting me about my recent behaviour, her kiss with Sting, to the fight we just had. The whole time I keep my eyes down, hidden from her view by my hair, not being able to look Erza in the eye. When I finally look up, her face is unreadable.

'And why have you been acting like that?' She asks. I look back down at the floor, not saying anything.

'You like her don't you?' She says calmly. I choke on the sip of coffee I had just taken.

'No! I don't! I...'

'Don't lie to me Gray. Even if your words say no, your body language and actions say otherwise,' She isn't having a go at me, actually her voice displays an endearing tone.

'What the hell do you mean?' I regret asking that question immediately. Erza studies psychology, she's about to psychoanalyse my behaviour.

'When she walks into the room, you immediately straighten up, you stare at her constantly and when she catches you, you quickly turn away. You don't flinch when she touches you, in fact you actively reach out to touch her back, personal space is next to nonexistent between you two. I've heard you tell her on more than one occasion that she's beautiful, you don't comment on any other girls appearance that way. You're protective of her, like you guide her through large crowds, or you put your hand on her back too comfort her when she's nervous. You instantly light up when she's by your side, there is a special goofy smile you pull only when you are with her.'

'I do not have a goofy smile!' I protest, if only to get her to stop, but she doesn't.

'You are always the one who suggests movie night. You use it as an excuse to be close to her, I see you looking at her more than the movie. You unconsciously stroke circles into her arm as you do so. You sulk when I steal her away.' She looks amused at this. I scowl at her.

'I don...' she's never going let me a word in edge ways.

'I've noticed you keeping your distance, you're doing that because you're afraid that she doesn't feel the same way back. She has mentioned multiple times that she doesn't want a relationship due to her past experiences. You don't want to be one of those guys and your own bad luck with women scares the hell out of you as you don't want to hurt her.'

When did she get so good at this? She's not gonna stop until I admit it, is she?

'Fine! Erza you win!' I sigh. 'How long have you known?'

'I've had a suspicion for years, but it has become more apparent this year while we have all lived together. Why don't you tell her Gray? Ezra asks.

'You already know. I have a poor track record with relationships, I never fail to bring them grief. I don't intentionally do it, it just turns out that way. I don't want to do that to Juvia, I don't want to hurt her and lose her.'

'But aren't you doing that already? You've ignored her and fought with her. Don't you think you are causing more pain for the both of you in your quest to disconnect your feelings? Plus, have you ever thought that it didn't work out in your previous relationships because ultimately, none of them compared to Juvia?' Erza points out dubiously. That hit me like a ton of bricks.

'I...i've never thought about it like that.' That was the honest truth. Had I unintentionally pushed every other girl away because they simply weren't Juvia? They had all been quite clingy when around her, was it because I was a lot more transparent than I thought myself to be?

'You let your jealousy take over today Gray. Juvia is incredibly upset, give her some time to cool down before you try apologising. She's leaving tomorrow, take the few weeks you have away from each other to get yourself together.' Erza explains while standing up from her seat, preparing to head back home.

'What do you mean she's leaving tomorrow?' This alarms me, where is she going?

'You don't know? She got that short term internship at the coastal research facility in Hargeon. As she's already finished her Uni work for the year, she's starting it early. Don't worry, it's not for the whole summer, just the first four weeks. Then she will join us at Akane resort.' With that she leaves me at the table with my own thoughts.

I smile slightly. She had really wanted that job, and she got it. I can just imagine the excitement she showed. I wasn't there to share it with her.

Perhaps Erza has a point. Maybe I should take the time away from her to think about if I want to try and take my relationship with Juvia further.

If she's going tomorrow, it's going to be 5 weeks until I see her next, since summer break doesn't start until next week. I find the thought of not seeing her for that long hard, but Ezra's right, I must give her the space after what I've pulled on her.

I exhale. It's going to be a long few weeks.


	12. Chapter 11

Gray's POV

It's been five weeks since I last saw, or even spoke to Juvia. Damn I miss her. Erza is due to meet her from the airport late this evening, tonight she finally joins the rest of us at Akane Resort for the rest of the summer.

Lucy's dad owns the resort, and invited everybody to stay in some of its best rooms. It's been fun being here with everyone, but it isn't the same without Juvia. I've thought about her the whole time. I feel excited but apprehensive about her arrival. I'm still not sure whether I'm going to tell her how I feel about her yet, but I am gonna damn make sure I apologise and get our relationship back to where it was before.

I'm standing on the patio of our room that I share with Natsu, Lucy and soon to be Juvia. I say room, more like luxury villa in which we all have our own spacious bedrooms with a large shared lounge area that has huge sliding doors opening out onto the patio, which consists of its own own plunge pool and hot tub. All overlooking the ocean. The view is breathtaking, and I know Juvia will love it. Lucy says that even though all the rooms are pretty much like this, we definitely have the best one.

'Whatcha doing Gray?' I hear Erza's voice behind me. Everyone else has gone to dinner, I've decided to skip out on it, too preoccupied with my impending reunion with Juvia.

'Hey Erza, Just...thinking' I respond flatly.

'Well I was just thinking too. Why don't you meet Juvia from the airport? The journey back will give you some time to talk.' I feel my stomach swirl.

'Do you really think I am the first person she wants to see when she gets off that plane, what a nice welcome gift!' I say sarcastically.

'Actually I think she would really appreciate it. I know you're nervous but she misses you Gray. And I don't need to psychoanalyse anyone to know that, she offered that information to me herself.' My heart flutters at her words. Juvia misses me. That gives me a new found confidence and energy to make things right.

'I will go meet her, when is the car leaving?' I ask her. She smiles at me.

'Ten minutes, good luck Gray,' Erza places her hand on my shoulder before leaving me alone again.

I smile. If I had time I would of brought Juvia some flowers or something to take with me, as a way of an apology. But I have thought of something else that she might find more endearing. I prepare myself and head to the front of the hotel and slide into the back of the waiting car.

Juvia's POV

I have just got off the plane, and am waiting for my luggage to come around on the conveyer belt. I'm so excited to see everyone, but I'm so exhausted right now. The image of Gray plays through my mind.

I don't know how to feel about seeing him. This is the longest we have ever gone without speaking. He upset me so much that day. What disturbed me more though, soon after our fight once I calmed down, was the jealousy that seeped through my body. He slept with Sorano. I can truly say there is only a handful of people I can say I despise, she is one of them. That made it worse. But even after all that, I can't help but miss him. Nor has my feelings for him changed. I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder.

I finally see my suitcase and pull it off the belt and make my way towards the exit of the airport. I love airports. When you come out and see all those people waiting for friends and loved ones to arrive, and all the happy smiles of those who have been reunited after however long, it warms my heart.

I walk out and immediately look for Erza's bright red hair. I don't see her. Is she running late? I haven't received any messages from her. Then someone catches my eye and I take a sharp intake of breath.

'Gray?' I manage to breathe out, not that he can hear me from that distance. He's holding up a sign with my name on it, he shyly smiles at me. He then turns the sign the other way which reads the words 'I'm sorry'.

My stomach does flips and my heart beats fast. It's so simple but him holding that sign, in the middle of airport for anyone else to see, his cheeks slightly flushed red, is the most adorable thing I have ever seen. Any anger that I may have held onto has completely drained away.

Dragging my suitcase behind me, I start to run towards him, I can't stop the smile on my face. Just before I reach him I let go of my suitcase and jump on him to encase him in a tight hug.

'Oooffffff Juvia!' I've taken him by surprise, he nearly falls backwards, but it only takes a second for him to regain his balance and wrap his arms around my waist, returning the hug with the same enthusiasm as me.

'Im sorry,' he whispers in my ear, he has yet to put me down. God I missed him so much. It's been about two months since we've been this close.

'I know,' I whisper back. He lowers my feet back to the ground. We both just stare at each other for a moment before Gray comes back to his senses first.

'Here, let me take your bag,' he says grabbing the handle of my suitcase. He puts his free hand on the small of my back and guides me out of the airport to the car. The driver comes to take my bag while me and Gray get into the back of the car.

The partition between us and the driver is already closed, so we are free to talk privately. I look at Gray, he's shifting in his seat awkwardly. He's nervous, and I find that even more endearing.

'As much as that was the best hello I didn't expect to get, we have to talk things out. I'm sure you have questions. I want to get this out the way, I want us to return to normal. So shoot,' he finally speaks up.

'So business like Mr Fullbuster,' I respond teasingly. He's right though, I have questions about what was going on. Even so, I have already forgiven him and want to make the mood a bit lighter so he can feel more at ease with me again.

'Be serious would ya!' He scolds, but I can see the slightest hint of a smile.

'Ok fine. Did you sleep with Sorano?' He looks taken back.

'Seriously, that's your first question? Yes, I did.' He responds but looks away from me as he does so. My heart aches a little bit.

'Why?' I ask bluntly.

'Something happened that night that I really didn't like. I needed something to take my mind off it, I knew she'd be easy. I haven't seen her since nor do I plan too,' he looks embarrassed. So it really was just a one night stand. Another wave of relief washes over me.

'What upset you?' Is my next question. He hesitates before he answers.

'I'm sorry Juv, I'm not ready to share that with you just yet,' he gives me an apologetic look.

'Ok, I can understand that. Why were you ignoring me for all that time and pushing me away?' I ask softly.

'Those two things are linked Juvia, I can't answer that right now.'

'Okay then, how about this one final question...do you think I'm a slut?' I say meekly. His words about my activities with Sting hurt me a lot, I hated what he insinuated. His eyes widen.

'No! Of course I don't! I wasn't dealing with my own shit very well and I took it out on you. I'm sorry I made you feel that way, you didn't deserve it,' he looks utterly ashamed of himself, he struggles to look me in the eye. I sigh with relief.

I scoot closer to him, lean my head on his shoulder and wrap my arm around his waist in another hug.

'I forgive you Gray-sama. Don't let this torment you anymore,' I whisper to him, enjoying the warm of his body once again. He seems to instantly relax, and proceeds to curl his own arm around my waist in response.

'Thank you Juvia,' he whispers back. 'How come you got such a late flight over here?'

'I came straight from the research facility, today was my last day. That was the soonest flight I could get,' I respond faintly, tiredness starting to take over my body, and Gray was so comfy to lay on.

'I look forward to hearing all about it. But you must be exhausted. Sleep for a while, I don't mind,' he tells me. He reaches his hand up to stroke my hair. I close my eyes and hum in response. I drift off into sleep shortly after. Content that things can finally return to normal.


	13. Chapter 12

Gray's POV

I haven't felt this light in weeks. Finally the weight is lifted off my shoulders, Juvia has forgiven me. She's been sleeping on my shoulder for the last 40 minutes, and I haven't stopped staring at her once. We are nearly back at the hotel. I wish the journey was a bit longer, I'm not ready to share her with everyone else yet. But I need to wake her up. Before I do, I give her a quick kiss on her forehead.

'Hey Juv, we're almost there. Time to wake up,' I say I softly and give her a gentle shake.

She lets out a little groan. 'I don't wanna, so comfy,' she's grumbles sleepily. I let out a chuckle. Truth is I don't want to move either.

'Well you can't sleep in the car all night, plus I am certain there are a few people who have stayed up, eagerly awaiting your arrival.' Her eyes slowly flutter open. She looks dazed, she must be exhausted. We've now pulled up to the front of the hotel.

I open the car door and help her out. The driver takes her bag out the boot and hands it to me. We walk into the hotel lobby and sure enough, Erza, Lucy and Natsu are there to greet her.

Juvia's tiredness seems to disappear into thin air, when she squeals and runs into a hug with Erza and Lucy.

'We've missed you so much Juvs!' Lucy practically screams.

'You guys didn't have to wait up for me, it's so late!' Juvia says, but she's clearly happy they did.

'We wanted to Juv! Not only that but we have been trying to get Cana to go to bed. She's been having a drinking contest with a guy she met at the bar,' Lucy explains.

'What's the problem with that? Cana is always having drinking contests with anybody and everybody. Why are you trying to get her to leave this one?' Juvia asks.

'He's beating her, she's utterly and completely wasted.' Erza says bluntly. Juvia gasps.

'There is someone who can actually out drink Cana?!' The girls nod their heads in response. Juvia smiles. 'Is it a guy?' What the hell has that got to do with anything? The girls continue to nod and smirk at her. Juvia's smile widens.

'Cana has found her soul mate!' Juvia suddenly bursts out, giggling excitedly and squealing with the other girls.

'Shhhhhh! Quiet you idiots, you will wake up the whole hotel!' I say exasperatedly.

'Who cares about that? Juvia, how was your internship? What did they make you do? Did you get to ride a dolphin?' Natsu starts asking Juvia tons of questions. Erza hits him over the head.

'You idiot, you don't get to ride dolphins!...you don't right?' Erza asks Juvia suddenly unsure of herself. Juvia giggles hysterically.

'No, you can't ride the dolphins, they did let me swim with them though!' She responds. I can see Natsu going to ask more questions.

'Stop you guys! Juvia came straight from work today, she's tired. Lets leave ten thousand questions until tomorrow!' I stop them from keeping Juvia up all night. They all nod in understanding.

'Come Juvia! I will show you to our room!' Lucy grabs her hand and drags her to the elevator, Natsu follows behind them. Me and Erza trail along behind them.

'So it went well.' Erza says to me.

'Better than I could have hoped,' I grin at her. She returns a smile.

'I'm glad. Have you thought about telling her how you feel?' She's looks at me expectantly.

'One thing at a time Erza, we've just made up! I don't know yet. She doesn't want a relationship. I don't want to ruin what we have when I have just got her back. I need some more time.' Erza sighs, but doesn't bother to argue back.

—

Erza's POV

It's been a week since Juvia joined us, and that idiot still hasn't done anything about their situation. I am laying by the pool in a lounge chair, staring at those two through my sunglasses, arms crossed, watching their non stop flirting with each other in the water.

'Ummmm Ezra...why are you glaring at them?' Jellal asks me from his lounger next to me.

'Because! Look how damn adorable they are! They both like each other, why can't they just be together already!' I sign frustratedly.

'Erza, don't get involved, it's not your place to...and she's gone,' I hear Jellal say as I walk away from him to speak to Mira and Cana.

'I need your help!' I state to the both of them.

'With what Erza?' Mira asks.

'Getting those two' I point over to Juvia and Gray. 'Together!.'

'I thought you had already spoken to Gray and he was gonna do something about it?' Cana says as she opens another bottle of beer.

'He was thinking about it, but I think he's chickened out. I just think they need a little push in the right direction.' I respond. 'Any ideas?'

Mira claps with excitement, while Cana smirks.

'I have just thing thing. We will do it tonight. Drinking will be involved,' Cana says matter of factory.

'When does anything you do not involve drinking?' Mira states with a giggle.

'What's the plan?' I ask demandingly. Cana whispers her idea. 'You know what, I don't think that's half bad.'

'I know, I'm a genius!' Cana beams.

—-

Gray's POV

That evening, we have everyone is over at ours. By everyone I mean, myself, Juvia, Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Jellal, Cana, Loke, Mira, Laxus and Levy. We are all relaxing in the hot tub, drinks in hand. Even though the tub is big, it's still a little tight, I willingly put an arm around Juvia's shoulders and she leans into me to make more room, that's my excuse anyway.

'How about we play a drinking game to liven things up?' Cana asks enthusiastically. Of course it's Cana that would make that suggestion.

'How about 'never have I ever..' Mira suggested.

'I've never played that before, what do you have to do?' Levy asks.

'Well, the first player says a simple statement about what they have never done before starting with "Never have I ever". Anyone who at some point in their life has done the action that the first player says, must drink. For example, I will start. Never have I ever been kicked out of a bar' Mira states. Everyone groans and takes a swing of their drinks, those who weren't sure about the game following suit, now understanding it and drinking. Mira giggles. She knew very well that we had all experienced that. She's the one who kicked us out.

'Okay, my turn!' says Lucy who is sitting next to Mira. 'Never have I ever eaten food that fell on the floor.' She turns expectantly to Natsu. Natsu drinks, as well as Erza.

'Erza?!' Lucy exclaims.

'What? Gray once knocked my strawberry cake out of my hand. I couldn't let it go to waste!' She replies. I can't help but snigger. Juvia nudges me in the ribs.

'Owww!' I look at her sharply.

'Do you want to get killed?' She giggles, motioning towards Erza, who is giving me the most deadly stare. I quickly shut up.

The game starts off innocently enough, until it wasn't anymore.

'Never have I ever kissed a girl,' Levy said on her turn. All the guys drunk, along with Cana and Juvia.

'You've kissed a girl?' I ask her. She shyly smiles.

'She's kissed me for a dare.' Cana smirks at me, everyone laughs. She then leans into me and whispers, 'Jealous?' I frown at her, and she cackles.

'My turn! Never have I ever stripped naked at the zoo,' Juvia says slyly looking at me with the biggest grin.

'JUVIA!' I yell at her. She bursts into fits of giggles, everyone else joins her. I reluctantly drink. Thankfully no one asks for details of the story, I don't want to repeat it. They are used to my stripping habit by now.

'Okay, if that's how you're gonna play it. Never have I ever watched another couple get it on,' I smirk at her, she told me all about it.

'AHHH GRAY!' She squeals and hides her face in my chest in embarrassment. Another round of laughter overtakes the others. Juvia removed herself from my chest and drinks.

'Juvia! You kinky little so and so!' Loke has the biggest, perverse grin on his face.

'It wasn't like that!' She cries.

'That's not even the best part. Come on Juv, tell us who you saw' I tease her. She glares at me, her face is bright red, she squeals and turns back into my chest.

'Erza and Jellal,' her muffled voice finally says. Erza and Jellal's faces drop, everyone else roars with laughter.

'What the hell Juvia!' Erza screams. Juvia shyly turns to her.

'It wasn't intentional! I had done some of your washing and I was hanging it up in your closest. Then when I went to come out of the closest you two were already going at against the door and blocking my exit! I had no where to go!' Erza and Jellal were crimson.

'Gray, you meanie!' Juvia looks up at me, her own cheeks still flushed. I just smirk down at her.

'Serves you right. Anyway, I think the attention is off you now' I reply looking at everyone teasing the other two.

'Okay okay! Next question. Never have I ever called someone the wrong name during sex.' Cana came out with. Shit, I have done that, in fact it ended one of my relationships. I take a drink as did a Laxus and Loke. Loke does not surprise me at all.

'How does that happen? Who's name did you call out?' Juvia whispers to me looking at me curiously. I turn away from her to hide my blush. I can't tell her it was hers! Thankfully someone else continues the game before I need to give her an answer.

The game continues on until we are all quite tipsy.

'Ok, now that everyone is a bit more loosened up. How about a new game? Lets play the king game!' Erza announces. Everyone groans. Nothing good ever comes out of playing this game with Ezra, but no one dares argue.

'Let me get the sticks!' Erza offers. Mira and Cana follow her to get everyone more drinks.

I sigh. 'Prepare to be humiliated' I say to Juvia.

Erza's POV

'You guys ready to put this plan into action?' I ask Mira and Cana.

'Hell yeah!' Cana and Mira both respond.


	14. Chapter 13

Juvia's POV

'So the rules of the game are this. We all pick a stick out of this cup, each will have a number on except for one which will have a crown on it. Whoever picks the crown is the king. The king then orders any of the other numbers to carry out a command. Those who picked the numbers called must follow the command.' Erza explains.

We all take our first pick. Lucy is the first to be king. I'm surprised it wasn't Erza for a change.

'Ummm ok, number five sit on the lap of number nine for the rest of the game,' Lucy decides.

'Oh, I'm number five! Who's got nine?' I ask looking around. A pair of muscular arms wrap around me and pull me onto their lap.

'Get comfy Juv,' Gray tells me. Oh my god I could kiss Lucy right now. I happily wrap an arm around his neck and shoulders for support, still holding my drink in the other hand.

'Hey! That was too easy, they were practically sitting on top of each other anyway!' Natsu complains. I stick my tongue out at him.

Erza is the next king. This means trouble.

'Number one spank number ten three times,' Laxus groans, Levy turns red.

'Chop chop Laxus, bend over!' Mira giggles. Everyone else howls with laughter as the biggest guy in the group gets spanked my the smallest girl.

'I'm so sorry Laxus!' Levy cries out once they were finished. Laxus sits back down in his seat and grunts, a small blush spreading over his cheeks.

Cana is next. 'Number three and six, squeeze the boobs of number two.'

'Who's number two?' Loke asks holding up the stick number six.

'Awwww man, why does this stuff always happen to me?' Lucy whines holding up number two.

'So who's got number three?' Cana looks around for her final victim. Jellal's bright red face says it all.

Jellal reluctantly moves over to Lucy, Loke is more than keen.

'I'm sorry Lucy,' Jellal says.

'I'm not!' Loke grins.

'Shut up pervert!' Lucy yells at him.

'Remember guys! Commands like this must last at least one minute!' Cana cackles. Poor Lucy. She has her eyes closed for the entire time. Natsu and Erza look furious.

A few more rounds are played. Until Ezra gets the king again. Everyone looks terrified.

Erza's POV

I am king. I stare at Cana, she knows why I'm looking at her, and discreetly nods her head once in acknowledgement. It is time to put our plan into motion.

'Before we get tortured by Erza, I need another drink!' Cana announces as she gets up. This is also Mira's cue.

'I will get us some more drinks for around this side of the tub as well, we are running low,' Mira offers and gets out of the tub to grab the drinks. I see her sneakily look at Gray's number, while Cana glances at Juvia's.

Mira picks up five bottles of beer, while Cana picks up six. This was our code. The other two where to pick up the amount of bottles matching the numbers of Gray and Juvia's sticks. I now know what numbers to pick. At least it was realistic, with Cana grabbing all those bottles for herself.

'Stop stalling you two!' I demand. 'Right, number six has to make out with number five whilst straddling them.' I see both Gray and Juvia gulp. Then I see the moment they realise it's each other, both their eyes widen.

Juvia's POV

Oh crap, I've got number six. I nervously look around to see who has number five. I see Gray look over at my number and see his eyes widen. He holds up his stick which reveals he is number five. I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks. Is this really happening!

'Come on you two, get on with it.' Erza says impatiently.

I slowly reposition myself so I am straddling him, and rest my hands on his broad shoulders. I hear Cana wolf whistle whilst I do so. His cheeks are red but his gaze doesn't leave my eyes.

'Timer starts once you've locked lips, And remember, it has to be for one minute' Erza states.

I lean down, close my eyes and graze my lips against his. It's a light kiss at first, then his tongue runs across my bottom lip and I allow him entrance into my mouth. The moment our tongues meet I feel him grab my hips tightly under the water. My heart feels like it's going to explode.

I forget about everyone watching us. One of my hands that was resting on his shoulder runs up to his neck and jaw instead, as we continue to deepen the kiss. His tongue easily dominates mine, and I can't help the small moan I let slip out into his mouth. Thankfully everyone else is being so loud with the cat calls that I think only Gray could hear it. I knew he heard it, as the moment I did he pulled me even closer.

'Gray! Juvia! You can stop now, it's been over one minute!' Lucy's voice rings in. We were so into it we didn't hear the timer go off. We pull away from each other, both of us breathless. We stare at each other intensely.

'That was so hot! You can cut the sexual tension in here with a knife,' Cana calls out. Me and Gray are both blushing madly. I finally pull my gaze away from him and reposition myself to sit back on his lap, since the game wasn't over yet.

'Ok next round!' Erza announces. She looks completely satisfied.

Mira gets the king. 'Number seven nibble on number eight's ear.'

'WHAT!' Natsu and Loke shout. Everyone bursts out laughing. I am grateful for the shift in attention.

Gray's arms around my waist have tightened since the kiss. He uses the time that the others are distracted to whisper into my ear.

'We need to talk later' he whispers huskily, his breath on my neck still a bit heavy from the kiss. I shiver at the sensation. I look down at him, his eyes have darkened. The look he gives me is so intense.

'Yeah, we do,' I whisper back and give a small nod.


	15. Chapter 14

Gray's POV

I'm in my room, everyone has gone to bed. Me and Juvia didn't get the chance to talk, we couldn't sneak off anywhere.

That kiss sent shockwaves through my entire body. I can't hold back anymore now I know what it's like to kiss her, I have to tell her.

I look at the clock, it's nearly 2am. I sigh in defeat, seems I'm not gonna fall asleep anytime soon. My head is racing with thoughts and I am way too hot to get comfy. I make the decision to get into a pair of black swim shorts and go and take a dip in the plunge pool to cool down.

When I walk out on to the patio though, I am not alone. Seems Juvia had the same idea. She's already at the edge of the pool, in her navy string bikini, chin resting on her arms looking out to the ocean, seemingly deep in thought. She hasn't bothered to turn on any of the patio lights, the light of the moon is enough. It reflects off her soft, porcelain skin, her long hair floating behind her in the water. Why does she always look so breathtaking? I take a deep breath and head over to join her.

'Can't sleep?' I say getting into the pool. She turns to me a little startled, but then gives me a small smile.

'No. You?' She responds. I shake my head. I come to stand next to her, leaning my own arms at the side of the pool. We stay there in silence for a while. What do I say?

'Gray?' Juvia is the one who interrupts the silence. I hum in acknowledgement. 'Do you...do you like me?... as more than a friend?' She says shyly. My face heats up and I can't help but turn my head to face the other way to hide it.

'Wow, just gonna come out and put me on the spot huh?' I say lightheartedly, then want to punch myself for saying stupid things at a very serious moment. She widens her eyes in panic.

'Oh i'm sorry! I just didn't know how else to say it! I just got the impression from earlier tha...' I don't let her finish.

I grab her waist and the back of her neck and pull her towards me. I crash my lips on to hers. It only takes a moment for her to start kissing me back. That's a good sign right? She gradually slides both her hands up to cup my jaw.

We eventually pull away from each other's lips but our faces are still close enough together that our noses are touching.

'Sorry if that was abrupt. I've never been good with words,' I say as I open my eyes to look into hers.

'That's okay. Umm...so is that a yes?' She says breathlessly.

'Yeah Juvia, I do. I have for a long time.' Her gaze doesn't leave mine once. 'How do you feel?'

'I...I feel the same, but it's just that I haven't had the best experience with relationships. I'm not sure if I ca...' now she's confirmed our feelings are the same, I am not letting her talk us out of it. I shut her up by kissing her again, softer and slower this time, once again she immediately responds.

'I know you're scared, I'm terrified. Neither of us have had much luck in that regard. But someone pointed out to me recently that maybe it hasn't worked out because those girls were not you,' I explain to her once we break apart. She's listening to me intently. 'I have compared every other girl to you. I kept them at a distance and pushed them away, because I didn't want them. All I wanted was you.'

Her eyes are shining with unshed tears. She still looks conflicted though.

'We're friends. What if it doesn't work out?' She whispers. Her voice is shaky. I rest my forehead against hers.

'We'll make sure that doesn't happen. We'll take it slow. Just know that I could never not have you in my life Juv,' I don't know what else to say, but at least we are finally being honest with each other. We both share the same fears.

She's hesitant for a moment, she searches my eyes as if looking for something. She then brings my face closer to hers and she kisses me this time. The kisses are short, soft and slow. I can feel her smile as we do so, she even lets out a quiet giggle and I can't help but grin back.

At that point we let our tongues entwine and for now there are no more words. She wraps her arms around my neck, while I hold my arms tightly around her waist. In this moment I feel like I can't get close enough to her.

I push her back against the edge of the pool while she wraps those gorgeous long legs around my waist. I begin to trail open mouthed kisses down her neck, until I reach her pulse point when she lets out a soft moan. Oh I could get used to that sound, it is most possibly the sexiest thing I have ever heard. I suck and nibble on that pulse point, another moan escapes her, she runs her fingers through my hair and grabs hold if it tightly. I feel myself becoming aroused.

I continue moving down to her collarbone, I can see her now hard nipples protruding against her bikini top, I can feel my erection growing harder at the site. I make my way back up and capture her lips once more, kissing her harder this time, whilst trailing one hand up her thigh to give her ass a squeeze.

She lets out another small moan into my mouth and grinds her core against me. She gasps while I let out a growl at the sensation. I'm getting too excited.

'Fuck! Juvia! We need to stop!' I tell her breathlessly. She gives me a small pout. 'If we carry on I won't be able to control myself. We said we will take it slow.'

She giggles. 'I didn't say anything about taking it slow' she teases by once again grinding against me, I groan in response, resting my forehead in the crook of her neck.

'Careful Juv, you're playing with fire by teasing me like that,' I whisper into her neck.

'Ok fine!' She smirks as she unwraps herself from around me. 'I guess in that case, we should try getting some sleep,' she suggests as she's grabs my hand and leads us towards the stairs of the pool. We each wrap a towel around ourselves and make our way inside.

Our rooms are next to each other, we turn to look at one another before separating. I wrap her up in my arms once more.

'So just to be clear, we are going to try this?' I think the massive make out session was enough confirmation but I wanted to be sure. She smiles and nods at me.

'What do you want to do about telling people about us?' She asks.

'How about we keep it a secret for now, even if it's just for a little while, just give ourselves some time to adjust?' I suggest.

'I think that's a good idea.' She she steps up on to her top toes and gently brushes her lips against mine. She pulls away fairly quickly. Our lips are just an inch apart when she whispers 'Goodnight Gray-sama.'

'Goodnight Juv.' I watch her open her door she looks back at me with a beautiful smile before she shuts the door behind her. I close my own door behind me and I can't help the grin on my face.


	16. Chapter 15

Juvia's POV

I'm having brunch with the girls in a cafe on the seafront, no one got up in time for breakfast this morning due to the drinking and late night we all had. We've decided to make it a girls day.

I'm sitting in between Erza and Levy.

'So...Juvia...hows your brother, is he well?' Levy asks me. I turn my head towards her. Her cheeks look a little flushed. I wonder why?

'He's very well. Actually, dad is giving him some time off and he's coming out to join us for our last two weeks out here,' I tell her enthusiastically. The last time I got to see him was when he briefly came to visit me in Hargeon four weeks ago.

'Really?!' She responds, a little high pitched, she has a smile developing on her face.

'What's with the smile Lev?' I smirk at her. I have a good idea as to why.

'N-no reason! Just...so...happy that you get to see him, you always miss him so much!' Her voice is nervous and shaky.

'Levy... do you like him?' I slur out in a teasing manner. Her eyes widen and she turns bright red, she doesn't say anything. 'Oh my god! You do! You do like him!'

'Who does Levy like?!' Lucy, who is sitting on Levy's other side, chimes in.

'She likes Gajeel-kun!' I shriek in excitement, Lucy starts squealing with me as we excitedly grip each other's hands across Levy, who looks down, plays with hers hands and tenses in embarrassment. This catches the other girls attention.

'That is just the most adorable thing!' Mira says closing her eyes, clasping her hands together and bringing them against her cheek. Erza smiles at the scene.

'It's about time you get some Levy!' Cana chuckles, as she drinks her Bloody Mary.

'Please don't even go there Cana! I don't want to think about my brother that way!' I groan.

'S-Shut up you guys! Can we change the subject please?' Levy says timidly.

'I gotta topic that requires discussion. Juvia, How was your kiss with Gray last night?' Erza glances at me. My smirk immediately drops. Oh no! I should have known they would bring it up! I've got to be careful not to give anything away about me and Gray yet. But I'm the worst actress in the world, the reactions on my face always gives me away.

'Ummmm it was fine, I guess. It was just part of the game, nothing special to talk about.' I respond as calmly as I can. They all raise their eyebrows at me.

'Really? That looked more than fine! You two were practically all over each other!' Mira states with a wicked smile.

'Yeah Juv, it was quite steamy!' Levy sniggers, getting her own back on me.

'Yeah, and you didn't even stop when the timer went off!' Lucy joins in.

'That's because you lot were so loud with your whistling and howling we didn't hear it!' I argue. I know my face is bright red.

'Hmmmmm just fine huh? Maybe I will have to have words with Gray about his technique?' Cana half jokes.

'No Cana! Don't do that!' I shriek as I hide my head in my hands. The girls laugh. 'We are just friends, you all know that! It was nothing more than a game.' Is it just me, or does Erza, Cana and Mira look a bit output after I said that?

'Okay, Okay, we don't believe you, but we will leave it at that for now. Moving on...so Erza? You and Jellal like to do it against walls and doors right?' Cana suddenly blurts out. It's Erza's turn to be grilled and practically has steam coming out of her ears. The rest of us burst into fits of giggles at each other's expense.

—

Gray's POV

It's late afternoon, I'm relaxing on the patio, Loke has joined me. Everyone else has gone out, including Juvia who got dragged out for the day by the rest of the girls.

'So man, how did it feel to finally get to make out with Juvia?' Loke asks me. Here we go!

'It's hard to enjoy something with you morons forcing it upon us and being noisy the whole time!' I respond dismissively. I know I won't get rid of Loke that easily though.

'Didn't seem to matter to you two, you barely even noticed us. You looked like you were thoroughly enjoying yourselves.' He's smirking at me. I look away from him.

'Why so quiet Gray? Did something else happen? You have been in a particularly good mood today.'

'No!' I say a little too quickly. He looks at me skeptically. I need to divert his attention. 'How did it feel to have Natsu nibbling on your ear?' His face twists in disgust.

'Do not bring that up! That is one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life!' He cringes. 'Of all people that Mira could have chosen, it had to be him. Why couldn't it have been Lucy...or Juvia?' He's giving me a sly smile now. I immediately tense. Don't let him rile you up Gray, he's just playing around.

'Oh yeah, I reckon Juvia is into a bit of biting, she certainly has a cheeky side. She would have been an exquisite choice,' he has his arms crossed and he's looking at me at me sideways. I glare at him, until suddenly see Lucy storm out and grab his ear, hard.

'Oooowwwwww! Lucy what the hell!' He cries out as Lucy pulls him out of his lounge chair.

'Don't even think about talking about Juvia in that perverse way of yours! I'm taking you to Erza as punishment!' She yells dragging him along with her. I turn to watch them in amusement, and see Juvia leaning against the patio door, also watching on as they pass by her and out the door.

She turns to me with a smile, raising an eyebrow as she starts strolling over. I make room on my lounger for her to lay beside me.

'Soooo what was that about?' She asks, as she joins me laying on her side.

'He started to grill me about last night, I tried to get him off the topic by bringing up Natsu having to nibble his ear, then he started talking about you doing it instead, he was trying to get to me,' I respond. She gives me a mischievous smirk.

'Well he is right about one thing,' she leans in to whisper in my ear. She trails a few light kisses up my neck. 'I don't mind a little bit of biting.' Just as she said that she started to nibble on my ear lobe, it leaves goosebumps all over my skin.

'Good to know,' I reply softly grabbing her waist and pulling her closer. I steal her lips in a deep kiss. 'It's not really fair though, I can't get to your neck,' I'm referring to her white polo neck crop top covering her.

'Oh you got to it,' she says as she pulls down her top to reveal the dark hickey on her neck that I gave her last night. I grin. 'Don't give me that look! I've been boiling in this all day!'

'Sorry but not sorry,' she gives me a playful slap or the arm. 'I can't help it if I enjoy marking you as mine.' Her cheeks turn slightly pink. I chuckle at her reaction. Just then we hear the door unlock, Lucy is coming back in with Natsu this time. We quickly sit up to look like we were having a normal friendly conversation the whole time.

'Is Loke alive?' Juvia asks Lucy as she joins us outside.

'Barely!' Lucy laughs.

'I wouldn't want to be him right now, he deserves it though!' Natsu shudders but also looks annoyed. What is that about?

'Juvia, can you help me pick an outfit for dinner tonight?' Lucy asks.

'Of course.' Juvia stands up and follows Lucy inside. The moment Lucy's bedroom door is closed I turn to Natsu.

'Ok, what was that?' I ask Natsu abruptly.

'What?' He responds cluelessly.

'You would never agree that anyone deserves Erza's wrath, I know you and Juvia are good friends and all, but not enough to be that annoyed with Loke,' I explain.

'Half way through his beating he stupidly mentioned that he also thought about Lucy that way too,' he says in a strop.

'I knew it,' I smirk.

'Knew what?'

'That you fancy Lucy. Why else would you get in such a huff.' He doesn't say anything for a moment, just looks away.

'I don't wanna talk about it. I'm quite sure she doesn't like me that way,' he says sadly, but quickly picks himself up and plasters on that stupid grin that is always on his face.

'Come on ice princess, we should get ready for dinner too!' And with that he walks out. I get up to get ready myself. I wouldn't have thought Natsu would be so easily defeated, I wonder why he would think Lucy doesn't like him back, they are always together. Maybe Juvia knows how Lucy feels, I need to remember to ask her later.


	17. Chapter 16

Juvia's POV

I've changed into a purple, polo neck, sleeveless body con dress. Hiding this thing is becoming a pain. Lucy has just come into my room to help me put up my hair.

'Juv?' Lucy asks, I hum in response. 'Are you and Gray dating?'

'W-Why would you think that?' I stutter out, she caught me off guard.

'I saw you two last night, in the pool. When I got up to get a glass of water I noticed the patio door open, when I went to look I saw you. I didn't stay there very long, it looked like an intimate moment and I didn't want to pry.'

'Oh...well...yes we've decided to give it a try...' before I can continue she lets out a small squeal and hugs me around my shoulders looking at me through the reflection of the mirror. 'Luce, please don't tell anyone.'

'What? Why? Everyone has been rooting for you two to get together for ages, why are you hiding it?' She asks, looking disappointed.

'We literally only decided this last night, it hasn't even been 24 hours yet. We just want sometime to keep it to ourselves while we adjust.' I explain. She sighs.

'Okay, I guess I can understand that. I guess that's why you didn't say anything at brunch. I won't tell anyone.' She concludes, and gives me a smile. 'I'm happy for you Juv.'

'Thank you Luce.' I reply back to her, smiling back at her.

'So have you guys 'done it' yet?' She blurts out.

'Lucy!'

'Don't act all coy. It looked like you were about to last night!' Her smile turns into a mocking grin.

'Well we didn't. We said we should take it slow...' I trail off in thought.

'But...?' She encourages me to continue. I sigh.

'I don't think I can take it slow Luce. I was so ready to go much much further, but I don't want to push him. We're both concerned about our history with relationships and that we are...were friends, that's why he thought it be best to start slowly. But we've been basically teasing each other for ages, I just wanna jump him!' I confide in Lucy, it's actually really nice to have someone to talk about it with.

'The sexual tension between you has built up over such a long time, I'm not surprised that's how you feel. Why don't you just continuously tempt him, you're good at that anyway. He's a man, there is only so much he can take before he cracks,' Lucy advises.

'I guess, but isn't that a bit unfair? He's trying to take it seriously and make sure we do things correctly, and then there's me who can I only think about sex?' I ask guiltily. I want us to work, and what he's doing is sensible, but I can't help it, I want him badly.

'Juv, whenever it happens is when you will both be ready to, there is no right or wrong answer here. Remember you guys are not starting completely from scratch, you've been friends for years, it's not like you need to get to know each other. And in the meantime if you tease him a little there's no harm, you do it anyway,' she smirks at me. 'For example, that dress is going to drive him insane, I always catch him staring at your legs, and that dress shows them off in all the right ways.'

'You've seen him looking at my legs?' I say with a small blush.

'He thinks he's so discreet, but I've seen him on many occasions,' she giggles. 'Come on, your hair is done, time to go for dinner.' I follow her out my room.

As soon as we step out I look at Gray from the corner of my eye. I see his eyes widen briefly, before they trail down my body and lingering on my legs. Oh my god! Lucy was right, he does look at my legs! How have a never noticed before? Lucy and Natsu walk ahead of us as we make our way to dinner.

'My eyes are up here you know,' I quietly say to Gray who snaps to attention, his cheeks turn slightly red. I grin at him.

'Sorry, can't help it. Did you know I have always loved your legs?' I didn't expect him to be so blunt about it.

'It's only recently been brought to my attention.'

'How?' He's asks raising an eyebrow.

'Lucy's apparently caught you staring a few times,' his blush deepens at this. 'Oh and by the way, she knows about us. She saw us in the pool last night, but she said she won't tell anyone.'

'Well at least it's just Lucy. She can keep a secret.' He sighs. 'Speaking of Lucy. Does she like Natsu?'

'Why do you ask?' I respond. I can't just come out and say she does, she will kill me.

'Natsu likes her, but doesn't think she likes him back. I get the impression that's not the case.'

'Gray, are you showing concern for Natsu?' I tease. They may fight all the time, but they are good friends to each other underneath it all. It warms my heart that he's looking out for Natsu.

'He maybe a big pain in the arse, but I want to see him happy too.'

'She likes him too. Maybe we should get Ezra and Mira to set them up on a date,' I chuckle.

'Hurry up ice prick! I'm hungry! ' Natsu yells, they are quite away ahead of us. Gray rolls his eyes.

We finally make it to the restaurant, everyone else is already there. The restaurant is one that belongs to the resort, located on decking right on the beach. It's beautiful. The tables are simply lit with candles, and fairy lights adorn the surrounding tropical trees and plants.

I take a seat at the end of the table, Gray sitting on my left, Natsu sitting opposite me. As we finish the meal, another night of drinking begins. I glance at Gray who is happily chatting to Jellal on his other side, while I am involved in a conversation with Natsu, Lucy and Laxus across the table.

After a few cocktails, and desperate for a little bit of contact, I cross my legs under the table but slightly twist myself to sit at an angle that my leg can rest against Gray's. I feel him tense for a brief moment, but then he relaxes. He gives me a sideways glance looking amused. He decides to rest his hand on my exposed knee, rubbing soft circles into it. It's soothing but is getting me a little excited at the same time. How can such a small touch elicit such a reaction within me?

I put my hand over the top of his, and gradually force his hand to stroke up my thigh instead, I see him take a small, sharp intake of breath. Now that was the reaction I was looking for. He's no longer talking with Jellal, and I have his full focus. Everyone else is drunkenly involved in their own conversations to pay any attention to us.

'Juvia, what are you doing?' Gray leans towards me, muttering his words.

'I don't know what you mean,' I give him an innocent smile. His ministrations on my leg stop, instead holding it in a firm grip.

'If I didn't know any better, I would think you are using my weakness for your legs to tease me,' his eyes look at me with a dark intensity which makes me melt.

'Good thing you know better right? Gray-sama,' I gaze at him while I wrap my lips around the straw of my drink to take a sip. His grip on my thigh tightens. I give the others a fleeting look. 'Excuse me, I need to go to the ladies room.'

I smile at him as I leave. His eyes not leaving me. I had to get up, I was ready to pounce on him. This is so frustrating. I freshen up my make up as a slight distraction. As I make my way back to the table, I feel someone grab my wrist and pull me in the opposite direction.

'Gray where are we going?' He doesn't respond to me, just looks forward as he drags me. We make it around to the side of the restaurant which is deserted. He pushes me against the wall and presses his body flush against mine, immediately capturing my lips. I cling to his maroon shirt. I don't think I could ever get enough of this. He grabs one of my thighs, bringing my leg to his hip and firmly runs his hand along it.

'Damn it Juvia!' He gasps out in between kisses. 'Im trying to control myself but you make it so damn difficult.'

'I hardly did anything,' I giggle as a leave a trail of small kisses along his jaw.

'Spend the night with me tomorrow,' he whispers huskily. 'Everyone else is going out doing their own thing, I want you to myself, stay in and have a movie night with me?' His eyes are pleading.

'How could I say no to that,' I smile back at him, leaning in to taste his lips again. 'You know that's dangerous though? Being alone without anyone to bother us.'

'I couldn't care less, I'm counting on it,' he responds heatedly.

'Good, me too!'


	18. Chapter 17

Third Person POV

Juvia looked at herself in the mirror, turning in order to view every angle. She had put on a matching black, lace bra and thong. It is simple but should be effective. Tonight her and Gray were going to have their movie night, but if last night is anything to go by, a lot more was insinuated. Therefore Juvia wanted to make sure she looked sexy enough but without going over the top.

Satisfied with her appearance, she put a black tank top and dark denim shorts over the top. Lucy and Natsu wouldn't be back until tomorrow morning since they have gone with Ezra and Levy to Lucy's fathers estate, where they and their parents had been invited for dinner and to stay the night. Everyone else is keeping to themselves, having a much needed night off from heavy drinking (except Cana of course).

Juvia walked into the living room to find room service had already delivered the dinner that they had ordered so they didn't have to go out. Juvia and Gray sat outside on the patio while they ate, happily chatting and laughing like they always had. Eventually heading inside, turning the lights off, settling on the couch ready to put on the movie he had chosen earlier.

As always, Gray makes room for Juvia to sit between his legs and she obliges and settles comfortably, leaning her back against his chest, enjoying being in his arms. The movie starts but it doesn't take long for Gray's mind to wonder. He brushes Juvia's hair out of the way to start planting light kisses on her neck and shoulder. She hums in response. His hands then start to explore over her stomach and tracing over her small waist, curvaceous hips and thighs before making his way back up again. His touch sends shivers down her spine, she felt so ready for this.

'You don't know how many times I've had to stop myself doing this before,' he whispers huskily in her ear before gently nibbling on her ear lobe. She sighs happily.

Not wanting him to do all the teasing, Juvia turns around to straddle him and brings his lips to meet hers, cupping his face as she does so. His hands hold on to her waist as he eagerly responds to her kisses, running his tongue along her lower lip, trying to entice her mouth open. He groans in frustration when she doesn't allow him straight away, a giggle escapes her.

He lightly pulls on her hair to coax her mouth open and she eventually allows him, tilting her head to deepen the kiss as she runs her hand up to slide through his hair. When they pull away for air, both their chests heaving, Gray returns to attacking her neck, kissing and sucking. Juvia lets out small whimpers every time he hits a sensitive spot.

He trails further down until he gives the same treatment to her cleavage. Needing him to touch more of her, Juvia pulls away briefly to reach for the hem of her top and pulls its over her head. Gray's eyes widen, the thin, lacy material now the only thing covering her breasts. He dives down to continue his assault on her, trailing his mouth along the line where the lace meets her skin.

He encases his mouth around a nipple, twirling his tongue around the hardened bud. Juvia gasps at the sensation, she can still feel his hot breath through the lace, which although pleasant, is providing a frustrating barrier. She whines in irritation and he lets out a chuckle, it's his turn to laugh at her impatience.

She can feel his hardness between her legs, wanting to hurry him along she rolls her hips to press herself against it, making a low rumble echo through his chest, his grip on her waist tightening.

'If you don't want to go any further, now is the time to stop,' he mumbles into her chest, his dark eyes looking up to hers, boring into her. She can see the desire in them, he doesn't want to stop, and neither does she. She slowly removes herself from him, she can see the disappointment in his face as he believes she doesn't want to go further. She turns her back to him, and starts to undo the button and zipper on her shorts, hooking her thumps into the sides. She peers over her shoulder to look back at him, seeing he is watch her intently. She pushes her shorts down so they pool at her feet. She's hears his straggled breath, and smirks internally at his reaction.

Gray shallows hard at the sight in front of him. Her in just her underwear, long blue curls cascading down to the middle of her back, looking at him over her shoulder with half lidded eyes, her cheeks displaying a soft blush. His hands twitch, itching to touch her. Her hands reach for the clasp of her bra, her eyes never leaving him. The bra pings open and she gently lets the straps fall down her arms, letting it drop to meet her shorts on the floor.

She smiles as she turns around to face him, not even trying to cover herself as she sits back on his lap. This time he's much more forceful, grabbing her hips to pull her closer to him, and immediately takes an exposed nipple back in his mouth and sucks.

'Oh...' Juvia moans, arching her back so she presses her chest more into him, clutching at his hair. One of his hands leisurely lowers between them. He reaches inside her underwear and slides his fingers between her folds until he finds the swollen bud and slowly starts to trace circles into it, gradually picking up speed every now and then.

'Ah...ah...' she starts panting heavily.

'God your so wet,' he whispers as his mouth releases her nipple, and trails back up her neck, her jaw and finally to the corner of her mouth. She's kisses him hungrily, moaning into his mouth.

'Of all the times you strip, why are you still fully dressed now?' Juvia says breathlessly as she comes up for air. Gray realises he is in fact, for once still fully dressed. There was something incredibly erotic to have her almost completely naked on top of him, while he still had all his clothes on. She pulls his hand out of her underwear and runs her own hands up his abs to his chest underneath his shirt. She brings them back down to grab the bottom of his shirt to pull it up, he eagerly assists her by lifting his arms up so she can pull it off over his head.

He grabs the back of her neck and pulls her into another kiss, slanting his mouth against hers. She eventually forces her mouth away to kiss and lick her way down his neck. As she begins to trace the lines of his chest and abs with her tongue, offering the same attention to his body as he had to her. She discreetly slides a hand to firmly grasp his erection through his jeans. A groan rips through Gray's throat, he thrusts his hips up to get more friction from her hand, which continues to palm him.

Juvia unbuttons his jeans and yanks them down along with his underwear, finally freeing him. She looks him in the eyes as she crawls back up his now naked body, making sure her breasts brush against his member and his chest as he stares in awe. She leans down to place a gentle kiss where his ear meets his jaw before whispering, 'I want you.'

Before she could even think of her next move, Gray wraps one arm around her waist and expertly twists them so she was now under him. He can't take it anymore, he needed her, now. He grabs the sides of her underwear to pull them down, and once he gets them off her ankles, he runs his large hands up her shapely legs and settles himself between them, grinding his hardness against her wet core. He wastes no time and slowly inserts himself into her entrance and they both groan at the feeling as he fills her.

It takes everything Gray has to not immediately pound into her, he opens his eyes to meet her deep blue ones, staying still as she adjusts to him being inside her. She grabs the back of his neck to pull him down to meet her lips. She grinds her hips up against him when she is ready for him to move.

He gradually pulls out, then slams back into her. His thrusts are slow, but hard, until he finally thrusts at an angle which hits Juvia right in the correct place. She lets out a loud moan, knowing he has found the spot he was looking for, he picks up his pace, hitting the same spot over and over again.

'Ahh...ahh...Gray..' Juvia practically sings as she wraps her legs around his waist to pull him closer and clings onto his hair and shoulder as he continues his relentless rhythm.

'Shit! Juvia...you are...ngh...so tight,' Gray grunts out. In one last attempt to turn him on more, while she can still string thoughts together, she clenches her inner muscles around his cock. A growl thunders through him as he quickly stills and drops his head to her shoulder.

'Fuck...Juvia... if you do that again I will come much earlier than I would like to,' he gasps out. He was already struggling to keep it together, that action almost made him come undone. She lets out a soft giggle, and he can't help but grin into her neck as he places a few kisses against her pulse. 'You are such a tease.'

After a brief moment, he starts to pound into her again, hard and fast. He reaches between them to firmly stroke her clit in fast circles.

'Ohhh! Gra...' At that point Juvia looses her ability to string words together, lost in her own blissful state. She rolls her hips up to meet his to gain more friction, aiding the pleasure for both of them. She feels herself climbing higher and higher, her body feels like it is on fire. With one particularly hard thrust, she tenses, arches are back and cries out as her orgasm washes over her.

As she rides out her orgasm, her contracting muscles around his member is enough to bring Gray to his own release, a loud groan ripping through his throat as pure ecstasy overtakes him. He collapses on top of her, both panting heavily, all that is heard for a moment was their heavy breathing.

'So much for taking things slowly,' Gray chuckles into the junction between her shoulder and neck as he gains his breath back. Juvia giggles in response. He rolls off Juvia to lay beside her, immediately pulling her closer to him, so their bodies are flush against each other.

'That was never going to happen,' Juvia continues to laugh, resting her hands on his chest and bringing her face close to his.

'It's years of your relentless teasing, I never had a chance did I?' He smirks. She shakes her head at him placing a firm kiss on his mouth. Their tongues once again spiral around each other in a deep, passionate kiss. Gray suddenly gets up and grabs all the discarded clothes and throws them into his room.

'What the hell are you doing? Does sex give you some weird urge to tidy?' Juvia watched him in amusement as she sits up. He turns back to her, his eyes are dark again, lust building in them. He strides back to Juvia and grabs her underneath her thighs and lifts her up. She lets our a small squeal of delight as she wraps her arms and legs around him as he carries her to his room.

'I plan not to let you out of this room for the rest of the night, Lucy and flame brain are due back first thing in the morning, and I have no intention of getting up early to hide the evidence,' he grins and shuts the door behind him.


	19. Chapter 18

Gray's POV

I wake up to find my face buried in a sea of blue curls, I grin to myself as I tighten my arm around Juvia's waist and attempt to bring her even closer. I lean over to kiss her temple, which makes her lightly stir from her sleep. Her eyes flutter open, she turns to look at me and smiles.

'Good morning,' I whisper to her. She turns round in my arms to face me, snuggling into and resting her hands on my chest. I pull her closer again, wrapping a hand around the back of her head and kissing her lips.

'Good morning,' she replies as we pull apart. She briefly looks over her shoulder to look at the clock, displaying the time 8:42am. 'I should get up and go to my own room before the others come back.' She goes to move, but I pull her back.

'No, stay with me. They won't be back for a while,' I kiss her again, she smiles into the kiss and proceeds to place her hands back on my collarbone. I don't think I could ever get enough of her, I would happily stay in this bed for the rest of my life trying. As the kiss becomes deeper she lets out a small moan, that sound alone is enough for my manhood to wake up.

She is obviously aware of it as she gives me a devilish smile and lowers her hand to grasp it firmly and begins to slowly pump up and down, occasionally circling her thumb over the head. I hiss at her touch, everything she does feels ridiculously good.

'I wasn't aware you were this libidinous,' She whispers playfully. I grin at her between gasps.

'There is a stupidly sexy, naked woman pressed up against me, I am only human,' I manage to breathe out. She giggles as she manoeuvres her leg over the side of my waist, still underneath the covers. She guides me to her entrance and sinks down on to me. We both groan into each other's mouths.

'How the hell are you so wet? I've barely touched you.'

'You just have that effect on me.' She sighs. Her words just make me harder. I start thrusting into her in lazy but slow and deep movements, as we cling onto each other. I have one arm under her, my hand splayed on the middle of her back, while my other grips her ass which aids our thrusting. Her hands grasping my neck and shoulder. This isn't like how we had sex last night, it was more unhurried and fulfilling a need to feel closer to each other. The moans were not as loud as last night, they were softer and more breathy, only really heard at times we had to break away from each other's lips for air. I can feel myself getting close, she is too by the way she tightens around me.

'Yo Gray! Wake up lazy ice prick! We're back!' Natsu barges into my room. Mine and Juvia's eyes widen and abruptly stop our movements and snap our heads towards him. His look is one of surprise, then confusion.

'Umm...what are you two doing?' What a stupid question!

'Get the hell out pyro!' I yell at him. He continues to stare at us for a moment, and then his face twists into a knowing grin.

'Ohhh I get it...so how long has this been going on?' He asks devilishly while waving his index finger at both of us.

'NATSU!' Me and Juvia both scream out, both our faces deep red. Is he fucking serious right now? Lucy appears behind him and gasps, blushes, but can't hide her smirk.

'Ummm Natsu I think they are a little busy to be answering your questions right now,' Lucy tells him as she tugs on his arm to pull him away.

'Sorry guys!' Lucy says as she quickly shuts the door behind them. Juvia groans into the nape of my neck in embarrassment.

'Well, we managed to keep that secret for all of 55 hours, now Natsu knows it's only a matter of time until everybody else does,' I say exasperatedly.

'If we tell him to keep quiet, maybe he will?' Juvia pipes up optimistically. I raise my eyebrow at her.

'You wanna bet on that?' I respond skeptically.

'I believe in Natsu! What are the stakes?' She gleams excitedly. Oh, she actually wants to make a bet. We think for a moment.

'Ok, if he keeps it quiet until we decide to tell everyone, I get to have one day of as much PDA as I want,' she beams at me, she knows I struggle with displaying affection in public. I groan uncomfortably.

'And if he blurts it out before that, what do I get?' She grins wickedly and leans in so her mouth is by my ear.

'If you win, I will give you the best blowjob of your life,' she whispers. My cock twitches inside her at her proposal, yes we literally hadn't moved since Natsu's interruption.

'I take it you like the sound of that,' she giggles, leaving a light kiss on my jaw.

'I like the sound of that very much,' I choke out. 'How about we seal that bet by finishing what we started earlier.' I grab her and begin to thrust into her again, she lets out a quiet, surprised gasp.

—

Me and Juvia apprehensively walk out onto the patio where Natsu and Lucy are sitting. They turn to look at us, both still with smirks on their faces.

'You took your time,' Natsu mocks.

'Natsu, you can't tell anyone,' Juvia clarifies, ignoring his comment.

'Why not? You're together now, that's great news.'

'Thanks, that's nice of you to say. But we haven't even been together for three days yet, we just need a bit of time to get used to it,' Juvia explains.

'Seems to me like you are already really used to it,' Natsu jokes, Lucy can't hold in her laughter at his comment.

'Natsu!' I say irritably.

'Okay! Okay! I won't say anything. But just so you know, everyone is going to be happy for you guys,' he grins at us. We both smile back.

'Thanks flame brain.'

—

We have sat down for dinner with everyone else. Gajeel unexpectedly arrived a few days early and surprised Juvia at lunch. She has been non stop talking to him for the whole afternoon, but for once he doesn't seem to mind. He's probably missed having his sister and friends nearby since we've been away all summer, even though he will never admit it.

'So what have you all been getting up to?' Gajeel asks around the table.

'Not a lot really, mostly eating and drinking,' Cana responds.

'So basically what you do at home but in ridiculously hot weather,' Gajeel concludes.

'That's not all we've done, we've had the occasional day trip,' Erza argues.

'Oh perhaps now Gajeel is here we should play another round of 'Never have I Ever' in the hot tub later! That was super fun!' Mira squeals happily.

'What the hell is that?' Gajeel asks.

'You'll find out later,' Mira responds. I don't know why but I can see evil looming in her eyes.

'It's quite a funny game Gajeel, last time we found out that Juvia was practically made to watch Jellal and Erza 'do it'!' Loke laughs. Erza and Jellal turn bright red just as they did the first time it was brought up. Gajeel turns to Juvia expecting an explanation, which she gives him. He smirks after she's done.

'Well this time if that question comes up I would have to drink since I saw ice prick and Juvia getting busy this morning,' Natsu blurts out. Juvia drops her cutlery, I choke on my drink, Lucy face palms. Everyone stops what they're doing and snaps their heads towards us.

'WHAT!' Everyone else shouts.

'Natsu you idiot' I mutter through gritted teeth.

'Oops...' Natsu trails off.

'Natsu! You couldn't even keep that to yourself for more than a day!' Juvia whines. I smirk internally for a moment. I won our bet, at least I get something good out of this, I knew he couldn't keep it quiet. My delight is short lived when I saw the steely glare I was getting from Gajeel. Shit, I hadn't thought as far as having to tell him I was dating his sister.

'Stripper...'Gajeel slurs out, he doesn't even blink. It's unnerving.

'Since when?' Erza asks wide eyed.

'Since that night,' Juvia sighs in defeat. Ezra, Mira and Cana all gasp.

'So does that mean our plan worked?' Cana says looking at Erza and Mira excitedly.

'What plan?' I turn to them skeptically. Anything to have an excuse to ignore Gajeel.

'We set the game up so you two would have to make out, and it appears that little push was all it took! One of my ships has sailed!' Mira says dreamily.

'WHAT!' Gajeel yells.

'Oh calm down Gajeel! It was only a little make out session.'

'Erza, that's not helping!' I mutter, hiding my face in my hand.

'Yeah, besides that should be nothing compared to the fact that Natsu just told you Gray has been fucking your sister,' Loke's grin could not be any wider right now. I feel the colour drain from my face. Gajeel stands up front his seat abruptly about to make his way to me.

'Gajeel-kun! Calm down! Sit down this instant!' Juvia scolds. Gajeel stops and grumpily plops back down in his seat, his arms crossed and sulks like a little kid. Me and Natsu snort, it's incredibly funny to watch Gajeel get told off by Juvia of all people. He glares at me again, I instantly shut up.

'Fine, but I want a word with you later stripper.'

'Fine,' I reluctantly respond.

'So just to clarify, you two are dating?' Levy asks. We both nod in response, smiling at each other.

'Well congratulations you guys. It's about time,' Laxus chimes in. Everybody (minus Gajeel) cheers. After a few moments of everyone going back to their meals, Lucy stares at Erza.

'Why was I not included in the plan?' She asks looking offended.

'We couldn't have too many people knowing, three people is all it needed. Why didn't you tell me you knew about them?' Erza turns the tables on Lucy, glaring at her.

'Never mind!' Lucy dismisses nervously.


	20. Chapter 19

Gray's POV

Later that evening, we have gone to the resorts casino. It was decided a night in the hot tub to play drinking games again could wait until another night. The girls are all crowded around Cana, who is beating the dealers at their own game with whichever card game they are playing.

I'm sat at the bar with Gajeel, watching them from a distance. Gajeel has calmed down since earlier, but he still insists on talking to me about Juvia.

'You better not hurt her.' He says using a threatening tone.

'I never want to hurt Juvia, you know that Gajeel.'

'Do I? Because last time I saw you two together you wouldn't even look at each other, and that was you're doing. And I know you two didn't speak while she was working. Are you gonna tell me what that was all about?' He gives me a stringent look.

'Fine. I've had feelings for Juvia for years, okay? And they only increased over this year while we've been living together, it got too much. I had been avoiding her a few weeks prior to your birthday. I was trying to distance myself. Before your party she confronted me about it and I snapped at her.' I explain. Gajeel grunts.

'Okay, but I don't believe a little argument would stop Juvia from trying to work things out with you. She's not one to hold a grudge, so what did you do that she refused to try and make things right again?' I was worried he'd ask me this, he knows his sister too well. I sigh.

'We had another argument the next morning, and Gajeel I will not tell you what it was about because I don't think Juvia would want me to. But I stepped way over the line, I said things that I really didn't mean. She was so angry with me, so mad that she started speaking in third person...' I wince at that memory, I hate reliving that night.

'You're really not selling yourself here stripper!' Gajeel glares at me, understandably.

'I know. But after speaking with Erza she pointed out that I was hurting Juvia and myself more by trying to not be together. And she was right.'

'You don't have the best reputation when it comes to girlfriends, you've been cold, and never showed them any affection...' I don't let him finish.

'Because they were not her.' I look over towards Juvia who is squealing excitedly with her arms up in the air, jumping around like a maniac at whatever Cana is doing. I smile at the scene. 'I admit, I was cruel to the other girls. I used them to try and feel something for someone else. It never worked, I never even wavered. No one can ever compare to that crazy woman over there.'

Gajeel's frown has turned into a smirk. 'You love her.'

My eyes widen and I can feel the heat coursing through my body. I don't respond, I don't deny it either.

'Have you told her that?' He asks. I shake my head.

'Gajeel, we have been officially together for all of three days. Even if I have felt that way for a long time, I think it's a bit early to be saying that to her.'

'Alright ice prick, I will trust you to be the one to make her happy, because she deserves nothing less. Just know that if you ever hurt her, I will beat you to a pulp.' He's voice is friendly but I believe every word he says.

'Please do,' I grin back at him. At that point Juvia runs over and clings on to my arm. I smile down at her.

'Are you done with threatening him yet Gajeel-kun? You are taking to long!' Juvia whines. Me and Gajeel both snort at her comment.

'Hey! Shouldn't you be saying 'stop threatening him'? Not 'you're taking too long to do it?' I ask her amused.

'Nope! There would be no point in stopping him completely,' she smiles back.

'I'm done Juvia, you can have him back. I'm gonna join the guys in their poker game, I got some butts to whoop' he wonders off with an evil grin on his face.

Juvia repositions herself to stand between my legs and wraps her arms around my neck. I pull her closer by her waist.

'So, we can do this now, everybody knows,' I say in relation to our close proximity in public.

'Even so, I'm surprised you're allowing me this close. I thought you hated PDA?' She smirks at me. I grin right back at her.

'I don't have a problem when it's with you. In fact...' I lean into her neck and jaw to leave a few light kisses, 'I am struggling keeping my hands off you.' She immediately captures my lips but pulls away to quickly for my liking, as I am left chasing her lips. I give her a pout and she giggles.

'More later, I think we may kill Mira if we give her too much of one of her ships in one night,' she points over to Mira, she appears to be fangirling while looking at us. Both me and Juvia laugh. I lean into her again.

'So, I won the bet about Natsu, I believe I'm owed a reward. Fancy ditching everyone to go and pay up?' I whisper to her. She sniggers at me.

'That may have to wait until another time. Natsu has already had to take Lucy back to the room as she is too drunk. And trust me, you will not be able to keep quiet with what I'm planning on doing to you,' she breathes seductively in my ear. I immediately feel all my blood rush south. She raises an eyebrow at me in amusement, she's close enough to feel it.

'God damn it Juvia! Why do you always do this to me?' I groan frustratedly.

'Always?' Her head tilts to the side in question. I feel my face burning.

'Lets just say this wouldn't be the first time you've given me a boner in public. You've been doing it for a while.' That cheeky smirk returns to her face, but she is also sporting a light blush.

'Would it help if I told you there are plenty of times where I have been wet for you while out in public?' She says in a throaty whisper.

'No, that's really not helping! We may have to stay here for a while until I calm down,' I sigh and rest my forehead on her shoulder while she giggles. 'You're mean.'

'I'm sorry...Gray-sama.'

Damn seductress.


	21. Chapter 20

Juvia's POV

A few days later, myself, Erza, Lucy and Levy have come to a small town on the outskirts of the resort. It's not very well known and not really a place where tourists usually go, but Levy had heard about a book shop there that specialises in rare books so we all decided to tag along. There are a few boutique clothes shops and cute cafes here as well. We have decided to visit a lingerie store first.

'Hey Juv? What about this?' Lucy asks holding up a lacy red basque set with red stockings to match.

'Why? You finally planning to seduce Natsu?' I give her a cheeky grin. A deep pink blush spreads over her cheeks.

'No Juvia! That's not what I meant! Not for me, for you!'

'I don't think red really suits me. That would look so hot on you though. Why don't you get it?' I'm not teasing, I genuinely mean it.

'Why would I? I'm not with anybody,' she looks down to the side, looking a little bit sad.

'So? I don't think you would be single for much longer if say a certain someone happens to accidentally catch you wearing that,' I give her a wink. She's as red as the basque now.

'Are you seriously suggesting...' she's getting all flustered. I giggle at her.

'Absolutely, Natsu maybe dense, but he's still a man.' She looks like she's contemplating. 'I will help you form a plan if you want?'

'You will?' She looks up hopefully.

'Of course, now just buy it!' I smile at her. She smirks back at me, at that moment you would never have thought a second ago she was so hesitant about it. She runs off to pay.

'What about you Juv? Going to get anything?' Levy asks. I hold up the forest green lace and satin bustier I fell in love with straight away. 'Oh that's so sexy! Gray's a lucky man!' I giggle in response.

We both turn to Erza who is walking around the store with a constant blush on her face.

'You ok Erza?' Levy calls to her.

'Ummm...yes. Do you not feel...embarrassed looking at this stuff?' She says timidly.

'Not at all. What is there to be embarrassed about?' I question. I know she's shy about this stuff but surely she's brought something like this to wear to for Jellal, they've been together for ages. 'Erza? Have you never brought something like this?'

'No! I...ummm...I...'

'Oh my god you must get something!' Levy squeals.

'I know it's daunting the first time you try Erza, but trust me! The look on Jellal's face will make it all worth it! It will make you feel empowered.' I try to convince her. She looks apprehensive but still intrigued. Me and Levy rummage through the lingerie while Erza looks on awkwardly.

'Ah! What about this one!' Levy holds up a black bustier. She runs over to her to hold it up against her, while I do the same with stockings and a thong.

'Oh my god! Stop!' Erza pulls away from us holding the garments up to her, turning away bashfully.

'I believe the words will be 'oh my god, don't stop!' once Jellal sees you in this!' I smirk. Levy bursts out laughing. Erza looks like she's going to explode any moment. As Levy is chatting away to Erza about buying this and that, I can't help but chuckle at Erza's reactions.

I briefly look out of the store window when someone catches my eye. A woman with a silver bob hair cut, brown eyes and cute features. No it cant be?

'Lucy...hold this for a second please?' I ask her as she returns from the till, handing over the items I planned on purchasing, not once taking my eyes of the woman. Before Lucy could ask any questions, I rushed out the store.

I saw the woman walk into one of the cafes opposite the shop. I got as close as I could without risk of her seeing me. She came out a few moments later adorning the white and blue waitress uniform and started serving customers at the outside tables. Having taken a good look at her, I'm convinced it's her, but I need another opinion.

Coming to the conclusion I can't do anymore at that moment, I walk back into the store to meet a confused looking Lucy, Erza and Levy.

'What was that about Juvia? Why did you rush off like that?' Lucy looks concerned. I smile at her.

'I'm sorry if I worried you, I rushed off because I thought I saw someone I knew, turns out it wasn't them though,' I lie.

'Oh okay. So you gonna pay for these?' Lucy hands me back my items. I thank her and I make my way to pay.

—

Later that evening, it has been decided it is going to be round two of 'never have I ever'. Everyone has just come over to our patio ready to get in the hot tub. As everyone is getting their drinks, I quickly pull Natsu inside.

'Woah! Juvia what's up?' He asks.

'Natsu, I need you to come somewhere with me tomorrow.' I whisper to him.

'Where?'

'Clover town.'

'Didn't you just go there today, and what's with all the whispering?' He raises an eyebrow at me.

'I think I saw her,' I say flatly.

'Who?' He looks confused.

'Yukino.' At this his eyes widen, and suddenly takes a quick look around to check no one was listening.

'Are you serious! Are you sure?' He's paying much more attention now, urgency in his voice.

'No, that's why I need you to come with me. I've only met her briefly and that was ages ago. I am certain it's her but I need you to confirm before I even think about telling Sting.' I explain. Only a handful of people are aware of the situation with Yukino, Natsu is one of them. It is kept a secret, if her sudden disappearance is some doing by Stings farther, we have to approach cautiously.

'How do you know she will be there again?'

'I don't. But she works in one of the cafes there. If she's not there tomorrow I will go back everyday until she returns for another shift.' I explain determinedly. Natsu nods.

'Of course I will go, we will have to make an excuse to the others. They can't be following us.'

'We will think of something. We better join them now,' and with that both of us put on our smiling happy faces, preparing to enjoy our night like that conversation never happened.

I slide into the tub next to Gray and snuggle into him as he puts his arm around my waist, I lean my head on his shoulder.

'You okay?' He looks down at me. I smile back up at him.

'I'm fine, just feeling a bit tired from all that shopping earlier,' I tell him. I feel bad not being able to tell Gray about this, I am going to have to lie to him. But it is not my place to tell.

'Serves you right for leaving me all day,' he says jokingly.

'Oh I'm sorry, am I neglecting you?' I respond sarcastically.

'Yes! I feel very neglected!'

'Well maybe later, I can rectify that,' I whisper running my hand up his thigh under the water. He catches my hand before It goes any further. I wasn't going to, but he doesn't know that. He gives me a warning look and I can't help but giggle.

'You tease me too much woman!' He sighs, but smirks.


	22. Chapter 21

Juvia's POV

We are all getting seated in the hot tub.

'It's a lot tighter to get everyone in this time! There's hardly any room!' Lucy complains.

'I'll help with that!' Gray pulls me on to his lap and wraps an arm around my waist, just like in our last game. I smile down at him and give him a quick kiss on his head.

'Hey that's not a bad idea, cmon Luce!' Natsu goes to grab Lucy but she squeals as he picks her up.

'Why me?!' She yells.

'Well you were the one complaining.' Natsu argues. Lucy huffs but stops squirming and stays on his lap, a blush across her cheeks.

'Wanna sit on my shoulders so you can see everyone shrimp?' Gajeel teases Levy. She puffs out hers cheeks at him.

'I'm not a little kid you big jerk!'

'Ok, now that that's settled, I will start.' Ezra begins. 'Never have I ever been arrested.'

Natsu, Gray and Cana all take a swig of their drinks.

'Okay guys, fess up, what did you get arrested for?' Levy asks.

'More importantly, why were we not there to see it!' Says an amused Laxus.

'For being drunk and disorderly on a plane,' Cana pipes up first, ironically as she downs more of her drink.

'No surprise there!' Jellal sighs, but with a grin on his face.

'Disorderly conduct. I was in a fight with some guy, but he totally deserved it!' Natsu protests.

'That isn't a shock either,' Lucy says exasperatedly.

'What did you do Gray? Although I am quite sure I already know,' I smirk. He leans his forehead against my shoulder and mumbles something. 'What was that, we can't hear you.'

'Public indecency,' he responds quietly. There are snorts of laughter all around, of course getting naked in public would be Gray's reason.

'You really are a stripper,' Gajeel laughs, Gray glares at him.

'My turn. Never have I ever used a lame pick up line,' Jellal says. We all turn our heads towards Loke, who is not drinking.

'I don't know why you are all looking at me! My pick up lines are not lame,' he grins. I raise my eyebrow.

'Loke, when we met the first thing you said to me was 'is that a mirror in your pocket? Because I can see myself in your pants.' I would never forget that line as long as I live. Everyone sniggered and Gajeel just looked mad.

'You've used the line 'if you were a library book, I would check you out,' on me.' Levy crosses her arms.

'Okay! Okay! Fine, there have been some questionable ones!' Loke finally accepts defeat and drinks.

Laxus was next. 'Never have I ever gone skinny dipping.' Myself, Gray, Natsu, Loke and Cana all drink.

'JUVIA!' Gajeel yells at me.

'What? You only live once Gajeel-kun.' I respond innocently. He crosses his arms grumpily.

'Never have I ever faked an orgasm,' Mira chimes in. All the girls, including myself, drink.

'Hahaha, ice prick can't perform!' Natsu roars with laughter. Gray glares at him, but then turns to me in question. I giggle at his uncertainty.

'Don't worry, I haven't faked it with you,' I reassure him. He then turns back to Natsu with a smug look. Gajeel holds his hand to his face.

'I'm starting to think this is a shit game to play with ya sister, I don't need to know all this!' He mumbles.

'Why have you all faked it?' Loke asks.

'Sometimes you just can't get there. And it can get a bit boring when that happens.' Levy confirms. All the girls nod in agreement. The guys all look confused, they obviously haven't encountered this problem.

'Never have I ever had a friend with benefits.' Levy continues. I don't think this one is going to bode well for me. Reluctantly I drink, as does Cana, Loke and Natsu. Gajeel once again does not look very happy, Gray is also looking away from me.

'I don't think you can count Gray in that category Juv, you are a couple!' Mira states.

'Umm, it wasn't Gray,' I say meekly. Gray holds me tighter, almost possessively. Mira's eyes widen and goes to say something. 'No I am not telling you who it was!'

Some of the others look back and forth between me and Natsu, I then caught on as to what they were thinking. 'Oh my god! No! Why would you guys think that! I have never slept with Natsu!' I scream.

'Well you both drank, and we know Loke hasn't had any luck with you...' Laxus concludes.

'You don't know that! Maybe me and Juvs kept it a secret,' Loke smirks winking at me, then looking directly at Gray. Gray scowls at him, his grip on me getting tighter again, leaning away from Loke who was sitting right next to him and myself. 'No need to get jealous Gray.'

'I would never get it on with Loke or Natsu!' I insist.

'Hey! I take offence to that! I would rock your world!' Natsu jokes. Gajeel hits him hard over the head. 'OWWW! What was that for metal head!'.

'Stop talking about screwing my sister idiot!'

'It was a joke! Besides, Gray is the one actually defiling Juvia.' Natsu looks over at Gray with a grin, Gray face palms. I'm not sure how much more Gajeel can take. 'Mine was Lisanna.' Natsu states with no embarrassment whatsoever. Lucy looks uncomfortable, Mira just looks annoyed.

'Quickly moving on! Never have I ever slept with someone I am not actually attracted to.' Gajeel says quickly. All the boys, minus Natsu, and Cana drink.

'Why the hell would you sleep with someone you don't find attractive!' Erza asks in disbelief, especially at Jellal.

'Just horny,' Loke and Cana say bluntly. The others nod there heads in agreement. I stare at Gray who did not nod his head with the others, but he remains silent.

The game continues on. Gray turns to me while others are refilling their drinks.

'Erza, Lucy, Levy and Gajeel have barely drunk anything. We need to get them on something.' Gray whispers. I give an evil smirk.

'I know how to get them all. But you will need to say the one for the girls, as I am guilty of it too,' I explain. He gives me a curious look. I whisper to him what he needs to say.

'Okay, got it. What about Gajeel though?' He asks.

'I have that one covered.' I look down at him, he has seemed tense since the friends with benefits questions. 'Hey are you okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine. I just find it difficult hearing about you with others guys. I know it's silly, we all have a past.' He responds in a sulky tone.

'Does it help if I tell you, that you are the best I've ever had?' I whisper in his ear and give it a light kiss. His mood immediately appears to brighten.

'Is that so?' He grins up at me, but doesn't wait for an answer and pulls my face towards him for a kiss. I feel his body relax.

The game resumes, it's Gray's turn.

'Never have I ever read an erotic novel.' Me, Mira and Cana all drink straight away, we're not embarrassed about it compared to some other things we have confessed to. Erza, Lucy and Levy on the other hand turn crimson and slowly take a sip of their drinks.

'I knew you three had it in ya, you secret little horn dogs!' Cana laughs.

'So you girls basically read porn?' Loke says slyly. The three girls give him a death glare, he quickly shuts up.

Finally, it was my turn.

'Never have I ever cried when I got a cat for my birthday.' I glance over at Gajeel. As i've said before, Gajeel may act all tough, but he's a big softy.

'JUVIA!' He yells at me again. Everyone else giggles, it is hard to imagine Gajeel getting soppy over a little kitten.

'Drink up Gajeel-kun,' I say sweetly to him. He groans and takes a drink.

'This game is stupid,' Gajeel murmurs.


	23. Chapter 22

Gray's POV

Finally everyone leaves, Natsu and Lucy have also gone to bed, both completely passed out from another night of excessive drinking. I'm staying in Juvia's room tonight, stupid pyro is less likely to barge in on her. She's been in the bathroom for a while.

'Juv, you ok in there?' I ask through her bathroom door, which is locked.

'I'm fine, I will be out in a minute,' She responds.

'Still feeling neglected out here! First you leave me all day, now you're hiding in the bathroom,' I tease. I hear her laugh.

'Just go and lay down, I promise I won't be much longer.' I do as I'm told. What the hell is she doing in there? I look at my phone while I wait, until I hear her clear her throat. I look up and immediately take a sharp intake of breath.

There she is, standing by the bathroom door, wearing a forest green bustier with suspenders, sheer black stockings and black high heels. She smiles at me with that glint in her eyes that I am now all too familiar with. I quickly sit up on the bed.

'I brought this while I was out today. What's your opinion Gray?' She asks me as she tilts her head. My mouth goes to move but nothing comes out. All I can concentrate on is the way her breasts look like they are going to spill out of the lacy cups lifting them up, the smooth satin accentuating the curves of her hourglass figure, the flesh of her perfectly round ass enticingly on show except for the thin g-string and suspenders.

'Gray?' She says softly. I hadn't realised she had walked over and was standing right next to me. She leans down and crawls on top of me, pushing me back down to my previous laying position. My throat feels dry.

'I-I...umm...I' is all I can croak out. She smirks at my reaction.

'I told you I would make it up to you,' she whispers in my ear, her breath on my neck sends shivers down my spine. When my mind has caught up, I go to to grab any part of her I can get my hands on first, but soon realise she is holding my wrists down with her hands, her weight leaning on them, she's holding me there.

'I have one rule for tonight,' she looks me straight in the eye, her lips only about an inch away from mine. 'You are not allowed to touch me until I say so.'

My eyes widen but she doesn't give me a chance to respond. Her lips lightly brush against mine, I go to reciprocate but she quickly pulls away leaving me chasing her lips.

'How the hell do you expect me not to touch you when you're looking like that?' I breath out, already feeling incredibly aroused.

'If you do, i'll stop what I'm doing, and I don't think you're gonna want that.' She leans back down to trail kisses over my jaw and down my neck. 'Now if I let go of you, are you gonna be good and do as I say?'

'I'll do my best,' I meekly respond. I'm not used to being the submissive one when it's comes to sex, and so far we have both been on even ground in that regard. But with the way she looks right now, she can pretty much tell me to do anything and I will succumb to her.

'Good answer,' She whispers as her hands leave my wrists, dragging them down my body, her nails lightly grazing my skin as she does so. Her mouth follows them, kissing, licking and sucking her way down my chest to my naval. She's going tantalisingly slow. When her hands rest on my hip bone, her eyes look up at me.

'I also have a debt to repay,' she says with a smile as she hooks her fingers into the top of my boxers and starts to pull them down, freeing the erection that was straining against them. It takes me a moment to realise what she meant - our bet about Natsu. She starts kissing up the inside of my leg starting at the knee, as her hands glide up the outside.

My breath hitches as she reaches my inner thigh, so close I can feel her breath on my cock.

'So hard already.' She says seductively. Just when I think she's finally going to touch me there, she crawls back up me to steal my lips, exploring my mouth with her tongue. I moan into it, a mixture of pleasure and frustration. I know her intentions now. She is going to give me the blowjob as promised, but not before torturing me first.

'Juvia...stop stalling,' I say breathlessly when she pulls away. She smirks down at me, clearly enjoying her teasing.

'Patience Gray-sama,' She whispers as she reaches behind her with one hand and firmly grabs my member. A low growl rumbles through my throat as she slowly starts to pump. I thrust into her hand to try and get more friction. The moment I do her hand releases me.

'Juvia...' I groan in frustration this time. The suspense is killing me. She giggles as she moves down my body again, not as slowly as last time though. As she faces my manhood her eyes peer up at me and she smiles before licking the underside from the base to the tip, I gasp at the sensation. She does that a few more times, continuing her torturous pace.

She finally swirls her tongue around the top, taking only the tip in her mouth and sucks. I moan and quickly grasp the pillow behind my head to stop my urge to grab her hair. She gradually twirls her tongue lower and lower, taking more of me in her mouth, her deep blue eyes continuously watching my reactions. My breathing is getting rapid by the minute.

She pulls away for a brief moment before taking me back in, her lips engulfing me gradually until I feel myself hit the back of her throat.

'Fuck fuck fuck!'

She starts to use her hands at the base and adds more pressure as her lips make their way up and down my shaft, however she continues that tediously slow pace. It feels fantastic but I need more.

'Juvia...come on,' I rasp out. I unconsciously run a hand through her hair to try and make her go faster. She immediately stops and sits up.

'No...Juvia...don't stop!'

'What did I say about no touching?' her eyebrow raised up at me, she's not angry, in fact she looks amused.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...I just...'

'Beg.' She simply says. I give her a surprised look. 'If you want me to continue now I wanna hear you beg.' She had this planned from the beginning, she knew I wouldn't be able to stop myself from touching her at least once. I can feel the heat in my cheeks as they turn red, I instinctively turn my head away from her. I don't want to give in to her.

She takes that opportunity to lean down and suck on my pulse. I can't help the groan I let out, as much as I tried to bite it back. She has me to worked up to hold it in.

'Go on Gray. Tell me what you want me to do to you,' I can feel her smirk on my neck. She grinds her hips on mine, encouraging me to do as she says. My resolve to be stubborn and get her to squirm for a while quickly dissolves.

'Suck me,' I respond, almost inaudibly.

'What was that? I can't continue if I can't hear you,' she whispers in my ear, gently nibbling on it. I swallow hard.

'Juvia, suck me...please...I can't take anymore' I say through gritted teeth, looking at her from the corner of my eye. I see her eyes sparkle. She climbs off me and stands by the side of the bed. She beckons me with her finger to sit at the edge. I obediently obey. She cups my face and kisses me hard as she lowers herself to her knees.

She breaks away from my lips and continues to stare up at me as her hand begins to rub me again. She takes me in her mouth once again but this time she offers me the pressure and speed I longed for. I sigh in relief, throwing my head back, gripping on to the bed sheets, determined not to touch her this time, I'm not sure I could stand her stopping again. I watch her head bobbing, getting into a rhythm alternating between licking and sucking. I tense as I feel that familiar pressure building up.

'Juvia...I'm gonna...ngh...' I clench my fists harder, trying to hold it to give her the chance to move away but she doesn't and gives a final powerful suck, sending a shooting wave of pleasure down my entire body and it sends me over the edge. I growl rips through me as I come, hard. I lean back on my hands for support although they are shaking.

I take a moment to regain my strength before looking back down at her. She looks incredibly pleased with herself. She rises up to kiss me once again, I hungrily respond.

'You really weren't joking around when you said you would give me the blowjob of my life,' I huskily whisper. She grins at me and shakes her head.

Deciding her toying with me is over for the night, I ignore her no touching rule and stand up to grab her by the waist and throw her on the bed. She squeals in surprise.

'Did I say you could touch me yet?' She says sternly, but I can see the excitement in her eyes.

'I don't care! You've had your way with me, now I think it's only fair I get to rip these clothes off you and make you a moaning mess!'


	24. Chapter 23

Juvia's POV

I'm standing out on the balcony of my bedroom looking out to the ocean. I have always found the presence of water calming, whether it be the sea or the rain. I'm nervous for today. I've already got dressed into my dark blue jeans and a white tank top.

I feel a pair of muscular arms wrap around me from behind, my body relaxes at his touch as he nuzzles into my neck.

'Why are you dressed? You've depraved me of my new favourite sight to wake up to in morning,' he says huskily.

'And what sight is that exactly?' I ask.

'You. Naked. In my arms,' he kisses my jaw after every word.

'Two out of three ain't bad,' I giggle. I turn around to face him, wrapping my arms around his neck. I can see he has not bothered to get into any clothes whatsoever. I reach up to give him a soft kiss.

'Three out of three is better. Would you object if I get rid of all your clothing again and stay with me in bed all day?' God how I wish I could take him up on his offer. A wave of guilt washes over me. I had partially hoped he would sleep in longer so I could sneak off with no questions asked, at least for this morning, but now I am going to have to lie to him.

'As appealing as that sounds, I already promised Natsu I would go with him to Clover Town today.' He frowns. Me choosing to spend the day with Natsu over him is probably not what he wants to hear.

'Didn't you go there yesterday with the girls?' He cant hide his disappointed tone.

'I did, and I told Natsu that I found the perfect birthday gift there for him to get Lucy. It's in two weeks remember?' This isn't actually a lie, I did find something that she would love and have told Natsu we should get it while we are there.

'Oh, well can I come with you?' Shit, I didn't count on him asking me that. Gray hates shopping, why of all times does he want to come now?

'Normally I would say yes, but you would be ruining my attempt to get him and Lucy together.' Again, this is not a lie. I do want to try and get Natsu to open up to me about Lucy. And I intend to tell Gray as much of the truth as I can, only omitting the main reason for our trip.

'What are planning on doing? How would I ruin it?' He suddenly perks up, probably realising that I am actually scheming to get my friends to realise their feelings for each other, rather than using it as an excuse to avoid him. I feel a small bit of relief in that his previous disappointment seems to have diminished.

'Talk. That is all. But he won't open up to me when you are there. That's why I am keeping this visit quiet, I can't have anyone else come along.' He sighs in defeat after my explanation, he knows I'm right.

'I'm sorry Gray-sama, but we should only be a few hours.' I try to reason.

'Yes, but then you will spend the rest of the afternoon getting ready with Lucy for the party with our parents tonight.' He grumbles. That's true. Lucy's dad also holds a party for our families at his mansion towards the end of summer.

'Then we have the whole evening to spend together.'

'Yes, but I have to share you with people. My dads going to be there, he will probably steal you away the entire night! Especially once he finds out we are together now. And if not him it will be Lyon,' he says frustratedly. I laugh at him, although I secretly enjoy his possessiveness.

'Well then, you will just have to hold me tight the entire night, that way they are less likely to abduct me,' I tell him. His lips turn up into a grin and he lights up with realisation.

'Right, I can do that now! Lyon will hate it,' his grin gets even wider. Lyon has always expressed his affection for me, although I have always made it clear that I do not feel the same way. I remember how irritated Gray used to get at his antics. At least now I understand why.

'Whatever thought makes you happy.' I snigger. 'I have no plans tomorrow, so I promise you can have me all to yourself then.' I lean in to kiss him again and he deepens it. I eventually go to move away but he pulls me against him tighter, re-locking our lips. I can feel his smirk as I repeatedly try to move away from him, but he still doesn't let me go. I giggle as he continues to attack my lips. 'Gray, I need to go.' I finally manage to gasp out.

He groans and reluctantly lets me go. I make my way to the door and turn back to look at him.

'See you later Gray-sama.'

—-

'Hey Juvia, I got these for us, so if it's her she won't recognise us!' Natsu holds out two wigs as we are in the car on the way to Clover. One is long and blond, while the other is short and black.

'Where did you even get those Natsu?'

'Oh, I just had 'em.' He says casually. Who just has these lying around? I'm not even going to ask. He has a point though, she can't recognise us, or anyone else who may be watching for that matter. I take the blond wig from Natsu and take some time putting it on so it looks convincing. Natsu does the same with the black one.

We look at each other and burst out laughing.

'Juv, you look like Lucy!'

'I'm surprised by your choice. You look like Gray,' I snigger at him. His face immediately drops into one of disgust.

'Damn I didn't think this through! Wanna swap?' He looks at me hopefully. I laugh and shake my head. 'I chose these ones as they are a more generic hair colour than ours, we wouldn't stand out as much! Now I look like ice princess!'

'Wait! Are you telling me you had a choice of more of these?' I raise an eyebrow. He nods his head. Okay now I'm curious. 'Care to elaborate as to why you have a bunch of wigs?'

'I like to be prepared in case of an unexpected costume party,' he says like it's the most normal thing in the world.

'So...you can't be organised enough to bring the right text book to lectures, but you can when it comes to making sure you have a wig for a costume party that may or may not happen?' I find this bizarre, even for Natsu.

'We all have our talents.' He grins. I just shrug at his explanation, we've had weirder conversations.

When we arrive at the town, we head to the book shop Levy showed me yesterday. I find what I wanted to show Natsu. He stares at me with a strange look.

'A book? How is this the perfect present for Lucy? She has loads of these!' His comment makes me want to face palm.

'Yes, she has loads because she loves to read. And this,' I point to the book in my hand 'is a first edition copy of her favourite book by her favourite author. That's why it is so expensive. It's rare too, she will be over the moon with this.'

Natsu may not enjoy reading and only does when he has to, but I can see that even he knows the significance this will hold to Lucy.

'Wow Juv. That is actually perfect.' I give the book over to him.

'Well you love her and want to make her happy right?'

'I do, I want her to be happy more than anythi...' he stops in his tracks as he realises what he just admitted to. I smirk, I caught him out. That was easier than I thought it would be. 'Hey you tricked me!'

'She likes you too Natsu.' I tell him honestly, I can't beat around the bush with those two, especially Natsu. Both of them believe that the other doesn't feel the same way. Neither will make a move without the secure knowledge the other likes them back. I look at him. He looks shocked and turns a light shade of red. I don't ever recall seeing Natsu blush.

'She does?' He asks hesitantly, not sure whether to believe me.

'She does. And now you know that, please do something about it.' That is all that is said on the matter. It does not need to be a long conversation. From then on, Natsu looks in deep thought. I hope my bluntness has got through to him.

We eventually enter the cafe where I saw Yukino yesterday. We sit down and look at the menu. I look around but I don't see her.

'Good afternoon. Can I take your order?' A waitress comes over and takes me by surprise. I look up and refrain myself from squealing. It's Yukino. Now I see her close up its definitely her.

'Just a hot chocolate for me please, no cream.' I tell her. Natsu proceeds to read out the long list of food he wishes to order. She nods her head once he's done and wonders off to the kitchen.

'That's her alright, I can't believe she's been here all this time' Natsu says lowly.

'We should call Sting,' I go to get my phone out of my bag but Natsu places his hand over my arm to stop me.

'No, he is going to be at the party tonight. We will tell him then. If we call now he will just storm over here without thinking anything through first.' That is possibly the most rational I have ever heard Natsu be.

'Yes, you're right. After we eat, we need to leave straight away. No further interaction than necessary.' I conclude.

We spend the rest of our time there chatting as we usually would, although we are both on high alert and listen to every conversation we hear Yukino have with her colleagues, anything that may give us a clue as to why she is here, or why she left. But of course, nothing out of the ordinary comes up.

An hour later, we leave the cafe and head straight back to the resort.


	25. Chapter 24

Juvia's POV

I'm in Lucy's room, helping her get dressed for tonight...or should I say undressed?

"Juv, I'm not sure about this," Lucy says hesitantly, losing the confidence she had earlier. I'm standing behind her, helping her do up the hooks of the red basque she brought yesterday.

"Luce, please trust me. You look amazing, and he won't have a clue that you have done this deliberately." I reassure her.

"Juvia! You're embarrassing me!" She blushes.

"I'm leaving now! I will make sure Natsu is in the living room and Gray isn't, i'll text you when the coast is clear to walk out and knock him dead! Don't hesitate!" She goes to respond but I shut the door behind me.

Little does she know that's not the plan at all. I'm going to send Natsu directly to her. Her reaction will be more realistic. No one is in the living room, so I go and check the patio. Gray is the only one out there at the moment, holding a glass of whisky. He looks at me as I walk out to join him, he smiles at me.

"You look stunning," he tells me sweetly as he puts his drink down on the table and pulls me close to him to bring me into a kiss.

"And you look so handsome. It's been a while since I've seen you in a tux." I bite my bottom lip, he truly is a sight.

"Oi, don't do that with your lip. I'm having enough trouble trying to keep my clothes on as it is without you being all sexy!" He says as he tugs on his bow tie frustratedly. I giggle and take hold of his hand to stop him fidgeting. Gray has never liked tuxedos, he finds them too hot and restricting, its even worse in the summer when it is already sweltering, even at night.

"Don't worry, I will help you strip it off later," I give him a smile and a wink. He gives me an amused look as he leans in for another kiss.

"Will you two give it a rest with the kissing and the touching! It's all you ever do now! Get a room!" Natsu complains waving his arms in the air as he makes his way out on to the patio.

"Even if we did you still have a habit of walking in without knocking, so what does it matter flame brain!" Gray argues back. Natsu goes to retort but I intervene.

"Natsu, could you go and give this to Lucy please? I'm lending it to her for tonight." I pass him a gold floral hair comb.

"Why can't you give it to her?"

"I'm busy," I respond bluntly and immediately pull Gray down to my lips, very well knowing this will make Natsu leave. Gray looks surprised for a moment but then is all to happy to oblige me.

"BLAH!," Natsu yells out in disgust and storms off towards Lucy's room. Despite Gray just pointing out his inability to knock, he still just barges in. That's exactly what I counted on him doing. A moment later I hear Lucy's squeal, and I can't help the giggle that erupts from me.

"What did you do?" Gray looks at me suspiciously.

"Just helping move things along." I tell him innocently. Natsu rushes out of Lucy's bedroom towards his own. Not before I see his wide eyes and red face. Gray watches him then raises an eyebrow at me.

"I think he just needs a moment to cool down." I explain with a smirk.

'You're a little bit scary, you know that? Have you been taking notes from Mira, Erza and Cana?" He grins at me.

"Sometimes it's necessary to take a page out of their book. I'm going to check on Lucy." I leave him with a quick kiss. I walk into Lucy's room, she snaps her head at me. I see her sigh in relief, then looks at me skeptically.

"You planned that didn't you?" She gives me an evil eye, a pink hue still visible on her cheeks.

"Much more realistic don't you think? And his reaction was priceless. That's all he's going to think about all night now." I say gleefully. "Come on, you can put your dress on now!" I hurry her along to put her gorgeous, long, red dress. It beautifully matches her undergarments. Erza will kill us if we are late.

Gray's POV

I watch Juvia from afar as she greets and poses for pictures with the press, along with the other girls, gathered outside the Heartfillia mansion. Similar to Gajeel's party, as with pretty much every gathering within our social status, there is always press. The Heartfillia end of summer party is one of societies top events of the year. The estate is huge and boasts its own, more intimate version of a ballroom. So everyone dresses formally, like they are actually attending a ball.

Juvia looks sensational. She's chosen an elegant satin navy blue mermaid tail evening dress, which sports a low V neck at the front and reveals her bare back. It accentuates every curve of her body. Her hair rarely pulled into a long, voluptuous side plait, with a few loose curly pieces of hair framing her face. She's always at the top of the best dressed lists, consistently finding the right balance between sexy and refinement.

We have decided not to to reveal our relationship to the public yet, we would be stalked by press for weeks like they did with Erza and Jellal. We arrived separately and will reunite once inside where press can't enter.

"Enjoying the view son?" A voice appears beside me. I sigh, here we go.

"Hi dad," I drone out.

"Come on son! Is that anyway to greet your father? And don't think I can't see you perving on sweet Juvia-chan." He stands by my side and views me out the corner of his eyes with a stupid grin on his face.

"I'm not perving on her!" Am I? Is it perving if I'm her boyfriend? I'm allowed right?

"When are you going to make her my daughter-in-law? I know Lyon has no chance with her, so you are the only other option." I can't help but snort at his remark. My dad adores Juvia, and the feeling is mutual. They have always got along famously. Both have the exceptional ability to brighten the lives of everyone around them with their bubbly and lively personalities. Despite my grumbling earlier, I am actually really excited to tell dad me and Juvia are dating, but I will only tell him once she's stood next to me.

"Please! A lady such as Juvia-chan wouldn't stoop so low as to choose someone as unrefined as Gray." Lyon's voice mocks as he joins us standing on the other side of dad. Lyon is my step brother. My mum, Mika, died in a hit and run accident when I was five. My dad remarried when I was eight to Ur Milkovich, who had a daughter, Ultear, and an adoptive son, Lyon.

There has always been what some would call a sibling rivalry between myself and Lyon. Don't get me wrong, we do get on but we compete over everything. But the one thing I really hated contending with him on was Juvia. I used to seethe when he openly expressed his affection towards her, not that it was ever reciprocated. The jealousy I felt towards him that he was free to at least admit his feelings for her, while I had resided to keep mine hidden for the sake of our friendship, and at the same time couldn't stand to see her with any other man. But that isn't the case now, she's mine. I was planning on breaking the news gently to Lyon, but after that last comment , I am going to rub this so hard in his stupid face.

"Lyon, good to see you too." I say calmly. He immediately frowns, he was obviously expecting me to retort back. Normally I would, but my payback will come soon enough.

"Hmmmm, maybe your right Lyon. Perhaps Ultear will have a shot?" My dad continues to grin at his joke. At that moment, Juvia graciously walks through the threshold of the house out of the watchful eye of the press. Her eyes scan the room until they land on our little group. She displays a dazzling smile and hitches up her dress to allow her to race towards us, even in her heels. I don't react, that smile and excited run isn't for me.

"Silver-kun!" Juvia squeals in delight.

"Juvia-chan!" My dad responds to her in an equally enthusiastic tone. He picks her up as she jumps into his arms for a tight hug. I roll my eyes at them. And Lyon says I'm the unrefined one. I can't help but smile, my dad already treats her like his own daughter, more than her own father. He gently puts her down and she turns to Lyon.

"Good to see you too Lyon." She beams happily.

"Juvia-chan. You look breathtakingly beautiful, as always." He takes her hand to place a gentle kiss on the back of it. He glances up at me as he does it, watching my reaction. He's doing it on purpose, just like Loke does. I have never admitted to Lyon about Juvia, but I know he is well aware of how I feel about her. Although I don't like what he's doing, I don't react and just smirk at him. His face scowls once again, confused as to why I am not pulling her away from him like I normally do.

She gently retreats her hand away from him and finally looks at me. I give her a quick nod to let her know I am comfortable with letting them know. Her smile doesn't falter and she walks over to me. As she gets nearer I slide one hand around her waist, while the other cups her jaw as I bring her into a sweet kiss, she rests one hand on my chest, the other around my back. We smile at each other as we pull apart, still encased in each other's arms. We both turn towards the shocked faces of Lyon and my dad, who's mouths have practically fallen to the floor.

"What was it you were saying before Lyon?" I smirk at him triumphantly. He remains speechless, his eyes wide. My dad however seems to snap out of his trance.

"Is it happening? Is it actually happening?" He looks so hopeful as realisation dawns on him. I can see the excitement bubbling, ready to burst. Me and Juvia laugh.

"Yes dad. We are together." I simply put it.

"IT'S HAPPENING!" He screams like a child at Christmas.

'Shhhhh dad! We are at a formal event, will you control yourself!" I say exasperatedly, but still utterly and completely amused.

"I CAN'T!" He whisper shouts. Juvia hides her face in my chest, trying to hide her fit of giggles.

"Since when!" Lyon finally erupts.

"Since a week ago." Juvia responds. She looks up at me with genuine tenderness and warmth. I start to ignore everyone else and stare back at her, lost in her eyes, suddenly wishing we were alone.

"Will you two stop eye fucking each other please! Don't make me regret getting you two together in the first place!" Cana unceremoniously butts in.

"This is your doing? Please tell me everything, I want to know every detail!" Dad asks her.

"Cana please don't...and it's too late she's going to." I trail off as dad drags Cana and an unwilling Lyon away. Although I am grateful to have a moment by myself with Juvia.

"Your dad took that well." Juvia concludes.

"Of course he did. He's been begging me to be with you for ages. I think he likes you more than me." I joke around.

"I didn't expect that to be the way you broke the news to them." She eyes me with a cheeky grin.

"It wasn't, but Lyon pissed me off. I decided not to go light on him." I chuckle, then lean into her ear to lowly whisper. "Everyone in this room is going to know you are mine by the end of tonight. No more being paraded around by your dad either, I won't accept that anymore!"

"Well, my dad is one thing we won't have to worry about tonight anyway. He's not coming. Has other business needs to attend to." She doesn't look disappointed at his absence.

"Does that mean I can kiss you all I want without being judged?"

"Oh there will be plenty of people to do that. Erza and Lyon included." I groan at her remark.

"Can we just leave now!" I rest my forehead on hers.

"Just bare with it. It's only a few hours." She giggles and cups my face to bring me in for a kiss.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT! IT'S SO ADORABLE!" I hear my dad yell.


	26. Chapter 25

Juvia's POV

It's been a fun evening so far. I have spent most of my time speaking with Silver, Gray holding me next to him the entire evening. At the moment we have been joined by Natsu, his father, Igneel, and his twelve year old sister, Wendy.

"Wendy, that dress looks lovely on you. You're turning into a right little fashionista." I observe as I hold her hand to encourage her to give me a twirl so I can see the full outfit. She beams at me, clearly proud of herself. I love Wendy, she's such a cute kid.

"Thank you Juvia-chan. You look so beautiful!" Wendy compliments me back.

"Yeah! Way too good for you Gray!" Natsu exclaims. Gray scowls at him.

"Don't discourage her Natsu! I've waited a long time for Juvia-chan to become my daughter-in-law. She will give me thirty-three beautiful grandkids!" Silver states. My eyes widen. Thirty-three? I'm not sure that is even physically possible.

"Dad..." Gray try's to stop one of Silvers ramblings, but it's already too late.

"What son? You will get to have a lot of fun making them." Silver smirks at us. Both me and Gray start turning a brilliant shade of red. Wendy also has a blush on her face, she may be younger than us, but she knows about where babies come from.

"Dad..."

"According to Cana, you've already started." Silver continues.

"Dad!"

"They have, I saw them." Natsu chimes in, highly amused with the current conversation.

"Natsu!" This time both Gray and myself yell at him.

"Wow, you kids sure do move fast these days." Igneel says with a grin on his face watching the scene.

"Okay! Stop! Dad it's way to soon for you to bring up marriage and babies!" Gray turns back to his farther.

"Not too soon for you to start practising to make them though?" Silver retorts back smugly. Gray lets out an exasperated sigh of defeat. I hide my head on his shoulder in embarrassment. Just at that moment the announcer calls everyone to the dance floor.

"Oh thank god!" Gray utters and drags me to the dance floor away from the rest of the group.

It has come to the time of the evening where we all need to participate in some traditional dances. They are set steps and involve switching partners throughout, so although I will start off with Gray as my partner, we will dance with multiple other people.

As the first song begins, Gray rests one hand on my waist, the other connects our hands, my free hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry about dad, he doesn't come with a filter." Gray tells me as the dance starts. I laugh.

"I know. I am already used to his ways. I don't think I have ever seen you so keen to dance before." I tease him.

"It was either this or strip, I thought dancing would be more appropriate." He chuckles as he leads me. Eventually the time comes to change partners, I give Gray a quick kiss goodbye and turn to face my next partner. Lyon.

"Thanks for warming her up for me Gray but Juvia deserves a much better dance partner than you," Lyon smirks as he pulls me away from Gray.

"Shut up bastard!" I hear Gray groan, but he takes the hand of his new partner, Meredy.

"It's about time he manned up and confessed to you." Lyon smiles at me. I stare at him with a perplexed look. Had I been in Lyon's position, I would of struggled to act happy for us.

"Don't get me wrong Juvia, once upon a time I would have much preferred you chose me, but I accepted long ago you didn't feel the same way. You deserve to be happy, as does he, and I've always known that you do that for each other. I've moved on, I just like to wind him up." Lyon explains. I return a warm smile back to him, he comes across a bit pompous at times but he can be truly sweet, he cares about Gray's wellbeing. "I've actually got a bit of a thing for Miss Meredy."

"Really? Lyon that's so cute, I think you two would make an adorable couple!"

"Thanks, I'm working on it." He smiles coyly.

As the dance continues, I switch to having Loke as my next partner, where we share our usual chit chat. When I turn to my next partner I gasp. I feel like all the air in my lungs has been kicked out of me.

"Hello Juvia. I told you we would see each other again." Bora slurs. That familiar jolt of fear I feel when he is around strikes through my body. I hadn't even realised he was here tonight. I try to pull away but he's too strong for me and brings me close to him.

"Now now Juvia, behave. I am sure your farther wouldn't approve of you making a scene at an important event, would he?" I feel my eyes begin to pool with tears which I bite back, he will not see me cry over him again, it gives that sick bastard too much satisfaction. I desperately look around to find Gray. He is all the way across the other side of the room, his current partner being young Wendy, whose company he appears to be enjoying. There are too many other couples in between us to see each other properly, let alone being able to get his attention. I then look for Gajeel, he to is out of sight.

"No one is coming to your rescue Juvia. Plus, is a few minutes with me so bad?" He gives me a conniving grin.

"Stop saying my name!" I snap. The way he looks at me and how he says my name over and over again makes my skin crawl, and he knows it.

"I see you and Fullbuster are a thing now. He finally grew some balls, even when we were together I knew he liked you more than he let on. I could always feel his hatred towards me. I deliberately flaunted you in front of him because his reaction was so entertaining. Jealousy is a powerful emotion." He explains. I don't respond and keep my head down. "You know your farther won't approve of him."

"I don't see how that is any of your business. Either way he has no reason to disapprove of Gray." I don't know why I'm indulging him in conversation, but I hate that he intentionally used me to hurt Gray for his own enjoyment, and I had been completely oblivious.

"You would think so wouldn't you? He's from the same social class, he's popular with the press, and his family are clients of your farther's. He appears to be the perfect candidate...and yet your farther has never once attempted to push you in his direction. Much preferring to exhibit you to the likes of myself or Weisslogia's boy. Why do you think that is Juvia? It doesn't seem logical for a man such as Jose."

"It doesn't matter. Although I want dad to like whoever I end up with, ultimately it isn't up to him." I don't know what he is trying to do, but it can't be good. I feel even more defensive. What bothers me more is that he has a point, why hasn't dad encouraged me towards Gray? No! I won't let him get in my head.

"Oh come on Juvia. You can't be that naive. The only thing your dad has ever seen you as is as a way of furthering himself by marrying you off to someone HE sees as beneficial. He obviously doesn't see Gray that way. Just a warning to you, don't get too comfortable, it won't last!" Just when I can't take anymore of his torment, someone abruptly barges him aside.

"Opps, sorry! Silly me, I changed partners too soon. Never mind!" Sting says sarcastically as he glares at him. Bora looks mad, but just huffs and wonders off, clearly not interested in finishing the dance. He only joined to taunt me. I feel like I can finally breathe following his departure, I briefly use Sting's body to hold me up, I feel as if all energy has drained from my own.

"Hey Juv, you alright?" Sting asks, face full of concern.

"I will be in a minute, he caught me off guard. Thank you for getting rid of him. You really are a white knight." I say meekly as I gain some composure back.

"You're always welcome." He smiles reassuringly at me. "What did he say to you?"

"He was bringing up my relationship with Gray. Saying my dad won't approve of it." I summarise.

"Don't listen to him. I don't know what he was trying to achieve, but don't let him get inside your head. He does not control you anymore. Got it?" He demands. I let out a small giggle.

"Aye sir!" I give him a salute.

"So the gossip is true. You and Gray are a couple now. Speak of the devil, if looks could kill I would be dead right now. Why is he glaring at me?" I don't even dare turn to look at Gray.

"He knows about our little arrangement, he caught me coming home the morning after our last meeting." I clarify.

"Ah! Okay, well can't really blame him then, I don't think I would be thrilled either." Sting chuckles.

"Sting, I do have something important to tell you, but I can't do it here. Can you meet me outside in about 15 minutes?" I ask him as the final dance finishes. He nods in agreement and swiftly leaves me, pointing behind me as he does so. I can see Gray making his way over to me, he does not look happy. Natsu passes me first, I quickly grab on to his arm.

"Natsu, can you meet me and Sting outside in 15 minutes?" I ask quietly.

"Yes, of course."

"Also, ask Lucy to dance. You didn't get to before." I advise. He looks at me skeptically.

"You do know I can't dance right? I don't think that is the way to win her over!" He retorts. It's true, Natsu is notorious for stepping on your feet.

"Doesn't matter. She will be glad you asked. Now go you wimp!" I push him towards Lucy. He gives me an evil eye before obeying my command, knowing I wouldn't let it rest.

At that point, Gray reaches me. He holds me close to him, both arms around my waist. It takes me a moment to realise he's pulled my into another dance. I wrap my arms around his neck, bringing my face close to his and stare at him in curiosity. This was not what I was expecting. He still looks angry though.

"Don't say anything." He tells me sternly. "Just let me hold you for a moment, I will calm down in a minute." He's trying to control his temper. I do as he says. Gradually I see the change in his facial features as his body starts to relax again. When he's ready his lips meet mine. "Thank you"

"You know there is no need for you to get jealous." I try and reassure him.

"I know. I can't help it though." He lets out a small, shy grin, a faint blush on his face. I look over towards the exit to the garden, a wave of dread and guilt washes over me. I'm not doing anything wrong, but i'm not sure how Gray will take it if he finds out I'm secretly meeting with Sting. Right then I make a decision to be honest, unsure of what the outcome will be.

"Gray, after this I do need to go and talk to Sting about something," He immediately tightens his grip on me. "Natsu will be with me." I add quickly.

"What about?" He says through gritted teeth. I can see him trying to control himself again.

"I can't tell you."

"But Natsu can know?"

"Me and Natsu are friends with Sting. He confided in us as his friends. We have something important to tell him regarding what he told us, but it's not our place to tell others. I'm telling you as much as I can as I don't want you to worry or get worked up." I'm not sure if I make any sense, or if I'm just making it worse. After a brief moment, he takes a deep breath.

"Okay."

"Okay?" I repeat his words.

"I may not like it, but he is your friend and I am gonna have to learn to accept that. You've told me what you are doing before I go and make assumptions. I trust you." The emotions I feel for this man at this moment makes my heart feel like it will burst. I don't think, I just pull him into a bruising kiss.

"Thank you." I whisper as we come up for air.

"Besides, you can't be doing anything romantic if Natsu is there right?" He jokes. I give him a playful slap on his arms, and he laughs.

"Just for the record, even if Natsu wasn't involved, there still wouldn't be anything romantic." He's lightened the mood, but I need him to know he doesn't have to feel threatened by Sting. I like the thought of them one day being friendly with each other, even though I know that would be asking for too much.

"I know." He says as he rests his forehead against mine. We remain that way until the song ends.

"I shouldn't be too long. I'll come and find you after." I tell him. He nods. I give him one more quick peck on the lips before I let go of him to make my way outside.

Gray's POV

I take a deep breath as I watch her walk away. I step behind one of the large pillars adorning the circular room just to have a moment alone to balance my emotions. I lean against the pillar, hands in my pockets, closing my eyes for a moment.

"I see you're still as possessive as ever Gray." I hear a voice I recognise join me. I open my eyes and seethe at who I see standing opposite me leaning against the wall.

"Bora."


	27. Chapter 26

Gray's POV

"I see you're still as possessive as ever Gray." I hear a voice I recognise join me. I open my eyes and seethe at who I see standing opposite me, leaning against the wall.

"Bora."

"What are you gonna do with that jealousy of yours when you lose her?" He says with a mocking tone, a vile grin on his face.

"That's not gonna happen."

"It will. Her farther will not approve of your relationship."

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"Oh come on! Jose has always expressed great interest in who Juvia ends up with. In fact he practically dangles her in front of every man that he sees fit as being a match for her. You have never been one of them." I can't help the scowl that spreads across my face at his remark. This is not the first time I have thought this either. "I'm more observant than you realise. I've seen you watch from afar as he parades her around. I know that you know that he has no intention for you to be with his daughter."

"I don't see a reason for him to oppose us being together." This is true. If it's wealth or status Jose wants, I would be a more than suitable candidate, more than a lot of the guys I've seen her be introduced to.

"She said the same thing."

"You spoke to her!" I don't know the full extent of what happened between him and Juvia, she refused to tell anyone, but I do know she hates being around him and wants nothing to do with him.

"Danced actually. I must say, it was very nostalgic, holding her in my arms again while you had no choice but to be on the other side of the room. Too bad you didn't see, it would have made the moment so much sweeter." He's enjoying this, just like when they were together.

"Why you..."

"She did look for you, I could see her desperately searching for you to save her from the big bad wolf she makes me out to be. But her true knight in shining armour came to her aide instead." I look at him in confusion. "Sting Eucliffe. This wouldn't be the first time he came to her rescue." The way he says that almost comes across as bitter.

What is he referring to when he says it wouldn't be the first time?

"It's fitting. That her future husband is so capable of protecting her." I tense at his words, he really has observed everything, he knows my weaknesses and is using them to try to manipulate me into doing god knows what. I shake away the discomfort.

"She doesn't see him that way." I say confidently.

"It doesn't matter what she feels. Rumour has it that Jose and Weisslogia have there minds set for them to be married." It's incredibly old fashioned but I wouldn't put it past those two to try and arrange a marriage, after all it is still fairly common in our circle, especially when business is involved.

"And a rumour is all it will remain. She won't allow herself to be forced into marriage, even if it's her farther asking."

"Don't be so sure of yourself Gray. Jose always gets what he wants, one way or another. Im giving you a warning, enjoy her while you can, she won't be yours for long." He turns away from me, beginning to walk off before I can say anything further. He momentarily stops. "Oh, and don't think you can trust Sting, after all, he is alone outside with her as we speak. He's the only one who has managed to get her to leave your side all night." With that he walks away, looking smug.

I look towards the garden door to see Natsu heading out of it, just as Juvia said, he would be with them. My brief moment of doubt disintegrates. Bora is no doubt up to something, he wouldn't come to 'warn' me out of pure concern, I've known for a long time he likes to taunt me when it comes to Juvia. Although on this occasion I don't know what his angle is. I chose not to believe anything he says, I refuse to hit the self destruct button on myself because he managed to put doubts in my head.

Juvia's POV

I'm the first in the garden, I could do with a moment of peace and quiet. I sit on the side of the large fountain, watching the water fall down the three stone tiers and into the large pool at the base. I absentmindedly swirl my fingers through the water, the action soothing my mind.

"Penny for your thoughts." Sting takes a seat next to me on the fountain.

"Just clearing my head after all that Bora business." Sting hums at my response.

"Does Gray know?" he asks.

"Know what?"

"Everything that happened with Bora." I look back down towards the water.

"No."

"Are you going to tell him?" I don't answer him, just remain staring at the ripples I'm making in the water. "It's up to you, but in my opinion I think you should."

"It was hard enough telling dad. What's the point when no one believes you anyway." I say wistfully.

"We're not just talking about anyone though are we. This is Gray." Sting tries to reason.

"I hate reliving it. I was made to tell that story over and over and over again. And what good did it do!" My eyes start to water, but again, I refuse to let any tears fall.

"I know. Just think about it. He was your best friend and now your boyfriend. You trust him more than anyone. He deserves to know, and I have no doubt he will help you shoulder the burden." He tries to reassure me. I remain uncertain.

"Damn it Juvia!" I hear Natsu yell as he makes his way towards us. I let out a quick chuckle at his call as I rid my eyes of any tears. "That was the worst idea ever!"

"What did she make you do?" Sting asks with an amused look.

"She made me dance with Lucy!" He responds irritably.

"Oh the horror!" Sting says sarcastically.

"I stepped on her feet 4 times Juvia! I looked like a complete idiot!"

"You're already an idiot, that ain't a secret. Lucy knows it's too" Sting grins. Before Natsu can respond, Sting continues. "So what is so important?" The atmosphere around us suddenly takes a turn, any lightness in the conversation now gone. Me and Natsu look at each other before we turn back to Sting.

"Sting. We found Yukino." I say softly. He obviously was not expecting that, his face drops in shock and for moment he is speechless.

"Y-you saw her?"

"Yes. She's working in a cafe in Clover Town. I caught sight of her by chance yesterday. Me and a Natsu went there again today, she served us."

"She didn't recognise you?" Sting asks worriedly.

"No, we were showcasing what is apparently only two out of a collection of wigs Natsu travels with." I smirk thinking back to the afternoon.

"Don't be jealous Juv." Natsu grins back, lightening the mood slightly.

"Is she ok?" Sting isn't having any of it, his mood hasn't eased at all. I can see the apprehension in his face.

"She seems fine. Was acting completely normal. Though we didn't speak to her more than necessary." Natsu confirms. We tell him everything, from both of us needing to lie to keep it a secret from our friends, my first sighting of her, to mine and Natsu's trip that afternoon.

"Take me there tomorrow." Sting says sharply, urgency in his voice.

"There's no point tomorrow Sting, we overheard her talking, she's not there for the next two days. Her place of work is the only place we truly know how to find her. Plus, it will give us two days to come up with a plan of action. You know you can't just rush into this. We need to be cautious." I advise him using the words he once told us. We knew this is what would happen, the moment he knew where she was, he would lose all reason and not think things through. I don't blame him though. He takes a deep breath.

"You're right. Thanks you guys." Sting sighs but forces out a small smile.

"We should go back in before everyone begins to question where we are but text us tomorrow. We will get to the bottom of all this" Natsu says confidently, patting Sting on the shoulder before striding inside.

Before I follow him, Sting grabs my wrist.

"If you trust him, you can tell Gray about this Juv. You've just started dating, I don't want to be the reason you're having to lie to him. It will take some of the edge off all this sneaking around."

"Thank you!" I give him in a hug, feeling incredibly grateful for his trust. I suddenly feel so much lighter.

Once we part ways, I head straight over to Gray who I find standing alone against a pillar. I feel exhausted and am hoping he would be up for sneaking away early. As I get nearer, I can see he is lost in his thoughts, his face contorted in a frown.

"Hey, are you alright?" I ask as I wrap my arms around his waist. He snaps out of his head. He grabs me tightly.

"I spoke with Bora. You didn't mention he trapped you in a dance earlier." He responds tensely. It doesn't sound like anger though, more concern. I freeze at his words. Bora approached Gray as well. "Did he upset you?"

"His presence alone upsets me." I can't help but say bluntly.

"I'm sorry I didn't take notice, I would have dragged you away from him had I known." He looks so distressed. What happened in the few minutes I was outside?

"What are you apologising for?! You didn't know. What the hell did he say to you?"

"He said something I can't make sense of." He tells me, a dubious expression spread across his face. He's made him doubt himself, I know he has. Exactly what he done to me.

"Can we go? I don't want to be here when he's still lurking." I say shakily. He nods and takes my hand as we go to say our goodbyes.

Sting is right. I have to tell Gray the full story about Bora. I can't hide this from him.


	28. Chapter 27

Gray's POV

The car ride back to the hotel was silent, I just held her close as she rested her head on my shoulder. The Heartfillia estate is a good 40 minute drive away and everyone else was staying there for the night. We had planned to as well until the presence of Bora revealed itself. We both fell asleep for most of the journey, I woke up to find my head resting on top of hers.

When we got back to the room, we both had a shower and changed into our sleepwear. Well for me that was just a fresh set of black boxers. She was in her silk, mint green cami top and shorts. It was midnight, I thought we were just going to go to bed to sleep off the night, she took hold of my hand. The expression on her face was serious and nervous.

"I want to tell you about what really happened with me and Bora." She is looking straight into my eyes, I can already sense her fear.

"You don't have to if you are not ready to tell me." I offer her an out, she seems so afraid and on edge, I don't want her to think she has to tell me because of what happened tonight.

"I want to." She pulls me outside and encourages me to join her on the day bed lounger on the patio. I wonder why this is a conversation she wants to have outside. I watch her as she takes a deep breath, looking out towards the sea. I then realise that out here she is surrounded by water, the pool and the sea, she is encompassing herself in the element that calms her the most. After a few moments of silence she starts speaking.

"Bora abused Juvia, but not the type of abuse most people would instantly think." She begins. Her statement is blunt, almost emotionless. Had it not been for her change into third person it would be hard to distinguish that she felt anything about the situation at all. I instantly tense at her words, anger already building up, but I keep silent, this is a time I need to listen, not to go on a rampage.

"When we first met it was like a fairytale. He was so charming, kind and thoughtful without prompting. He took such interest in my life, wanting to know about my family, friends, hobbies, the career I wanted to pursue. I remember a few weeks after we started dating it was my 17th birthday, and I invited him to my birthday dinner. He said he wasn't going to go as I should spend some quality time with my friends, that we had just started dating and had spent a lot of time together those last few weeks that he thought my friends deserved to have me to themselves for a night. I felt that he was so considerate towards my personal space. It felt so different to the other relationships I had experienced up until then. Little did I know that all he was doing was drawing me in, creating a world that I would never want to leave." She stopped at that point, I assume she was taking a moment to gather up the courage to tell me the next part.

"Looking back, I should have seen the red flags from the very beginning. A few days after my birthday he asked me to officially be his girlfriend. I was happy. He bombarded me with texts everyday, at least thirty, and they were all really long messages. He would jokingly complain that he would send these lengthy messages and would have to wait ages to receive a response, even then only getting a sentence back, but I think anyone would have struggled to keep up the the volume he sent. I mistook it as he was just showering me with affection and just wanted to talk to me. A week after we were official, he confided in me that he was starting to get really jealous thinking about my ex boyfriends and how close I was to my male friends, you included. He told me that it was his problem and that he needed time to work on his insecurities and simply asked me if I could hold off talking about you guys for a while. He seemed like he was just trying to be open and honest, so I complied with his request. I even cut down contacting you, Nastu, Gajeel, every man in my life to make it easier on him."

She looked guilty at that moment. Of course I remember that she didn't speak to me as much during her relationship with Bora, I just took it as she naturally wanted to spend more time with him as he was her boyfriend. I slowly started to realise the picture of the relationship she was painting for me.

"A friend of mine, Rogue, told me about how Bora had previously sent abusive messages to a friend of his, warning me to be careful. It didn't sound like the man I knew. Sting also didn't believe Rogue at the time. They had both previously been good friends with Bora, but Rogue backed away after he found out how Bora had been treating his other friend. That drove a wedge between Rogue and Sting's relationship, as Sting refused to believe that Bora was like that. Bora was incredibly good at convincing anyone he wanted that he was a good and decent man. I did confront him about what Rogue had told me. He changed the subject really quickly, accusing me of getting him to neglect his family, missing a number of important events as he was so committed to our relationship. I panicked and apologised immediately." She started playing with her fingers, a sign I knew very well she did when she was anxious.

"He would make suggestions about going out with our friends as we didn't spend enough time with them, but would then keep me close at all times, barely letting me speak to any of you by myself. Overdoing the PDA, even for me. He openly came out and said to me tonight that he deliberately did that to get to you. He knew all along what you felt for me, and despite how I felt about him, I highly believe he knew I had the same feelings for you. Not that I had ever planned on acting on it. We would leave and he would call me a whore for having so many males I am 'over friendly with' in my life, accused me multiple times for cheating on him with you. He made himself out to be so pained by my actions. He was the victim and I was hurting him, and I started to believe him, because deep down I did like two men at the same time."

Her eyes started to pool with tears. I started to feel my own guilt creep up on me. Whenever I did see her while she was with him, I missed her so much during that time that I would do everything in my power to gain her attention, to greedily drink up everything I could of her before she was taken away from me again. I had unintentionally put her in harms way. Not only that, but he had referred to her as a whore. It wasn't that long ago that during our big argument that I had insinuated the same thing. No wonder she was so upset and angry with me, I had struck a nerve. I gripped on to her hand tightly, but continued to remain silent.

"The contact he made when we were apart was overwhelming and suffocating. I felt I had to always answer him quickly otherwise he would get upset. It was like he wanted to leave no space for me to think of anything other than him. He started instigating fights out of no where. After we split up, I went to therapy for a while. When the therapist asked me what the fights would be about, I found it hard to recall, I felt like I was insane. It was then she reassured me that it wasn't unusual for victims of emotional abuse to not be able to remember what the arguments were about, because most of the time they were irrational and unreasonable, going against any logic. After the fights, he would shower me with presents, but they were never anything I wanted. They would be clothes he wanted me to wear, as if he was creating his own perfect vision of a girlfriend. I always felt guilty for feeling that way, as he was just trying to make up for our arguments, that at the time I believed were my fault in the first place. He always made me believe it was my fault. The fights gradually got worse, they became more frequent, he begun to throw things in my direction, not hitting me though. He never lay a finger on me, until one night he tried to."

At this point her tears started to fall, she was shaking uncontrollably. I wrapped my arms around her, bringing her closer to me, trying to offer her the comfort and protection she so clearly needed.

"One night, Juvia snapped, Juvia had had enough. Juvia defied his orders, Juvia had gathered the strength to finally leave him. He wouldn't let me leave. He started throwing things again, he ripped my clothes as I tried to run away from him. He pinned Juvia down on the floor so Juvia couldn't escape, continuing to pull at her clothes. I don't know what his intention was, but I have a good idea, he was never able to carry out whatever it was. Sting barged in after hearing my screaming. Turns out Rogue had begged him to come and check on me, despite their tense friendship at the time, after not hearing from me after I confided in him I was going to end it with Bora. Rogue had moved away at this point and wasn't able to come himself. Sting finally got to see the real Bora. He threw him off of me and beat him to a pulp. He saved me from whatever fate Bora had in mind. I am so grateful to both of them, it's why I am good friends with Sting."

Her sobbing became more intense. Bora. I hate him. I hate him more even now. He made her feel so worthless, made her feel like she was insane. He cut her off from her friends, her support network, he controlled everything she said and did. All the while making her believe it was all her fault. He had made the bright, confident, beautiful woman I am so deeply in love with a shell of herself.

"Did you go to the police?" Was the only thing I could think of asking I that moment. How was that bastard still allowed to wonder around freely, let alone be allowed to be anywhere near her.

"I went to dad first. He said there was no point going to the police. Emotional abuse is so hard to prove, said that the pain of going through a trial will not be worth it when there was so little proof we had against Bora that the likelihood of a decent verdict against him was not in our favour. Not only that but Sting would have got in trouble for causing the damage he did to him. Sting didn't care and took Juvia to the police anyway. They made Juvia tell them the same stuff, making mJuvia relive it over and over again. All that and in the end, they said exactly what dad told Juvia they would. Not enough proof and dismissed the case against Bora."

She was a mess, her mind was so muddled she went between speaking in first and third person. I felt helpless. How had I not picked up on any of it? I had also found a whole new respect for Sting and felt I understood their friendship a bit more now, and couldn't be more grateful that he and Rogue had been there for her when I wasn't. That's what Bora had meant earlier when he said Sting had saved her more than once, that's why he had said it so spitefully.

"I'm so sorry you went through that. I'm sorry I didn't even notice." It was then that it hit me, I was no better. I too get incredibly jealous and possessive of her, and I struggle to hide it. I was right the first time, I was no good for her, I should have stayed away. I start to sob along with her. "I'm sorry that I am the same as him." I add quietly.

"NO! No no no don't you dare think that! You are nothing like him!" She yells at me angrily. "You act the way any boyfriend acts. I get like that with you too, it's normal! It's protective, not controlling! The difference between you and him is that you go out of your way to make sure everything is in my best interest, no matter what cost it is to you. You do not stop me seeing my friends, or make me doubt myself, you make me feel the opposite of what he did. I can be myself with you. You make me happy." She smashes her lips onto mine, and I greedily take it. I think about her words, and realise that she is right. I would never try to control who she is, I would never want to. We eventually have to break for air.

"I'm sorry, you were opening up about something painful, and I brought my insecurities into it." I say to her, still cupping her face in my hands, wiping away the remaining tears from her face.

"Stop apologising. And more importantly, do not blame any of this on yourself. Gajeel done the same thing when I told him, he blamed himself for not noticing what was going on. But no one could have known or helped. Rogue warned me and I didn't listen, all the warning signs were there early on and I still ignored them." She reassures, she has calmed down considerably. "I had two other boyfriends before him, they were similar. Only wanted me as a trophy rather than actually caring for me. But I caught on to them early on and they barely lasted two months. Bora was the worst one, as he reeled me in for months before he changed his tune. He was the reason I stopped dating."

"Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me." I whisper.

We sat there in peaceful silence for a while. She looks exhausted, I don't blame her.

"Sting has said I can tell you about what's going on, why me and Natsu had to speak with him tonight. He doesn't want his secret getting in the way of our relationship. But can I tell you in the morning? I feel to drained to speak about any more anguish tonight." She asks. I nod in agreement.

I feel my body start to unwind. She had let me in. In addition to that, Sting had said she could tell me what was going on, so there would be no secrets between us. I started to see Sting as someone I shouldn't feel threatened by, I can see I needed to make an effort with him.

I get up and pick Juvia up bridal style, she giggles. That is the first time I've seen her smile since we left the party. I gently lay her in her bed, and crawl next to her to wrap my arm around her waist and pull her close. I decided then that I needed to be a man who can protect her. She deserves nothing less.

**A/N: I hope this has come out alright, I know it's a bit darker than what the rest of the story has been so far. I feel emotional abuse is just as bad as physical and can be just as scarring, I hope I portrayed it correctly, as I feel it is an important issue.**


	29. Chapter 28

Juvia's POV

The next morning, Gray and I lie in bed, wrapped up in each other, faces close together. I told Gray all about Sting and Yukino. How Sting had basically been in love with her the last two years, her and her family's sudden departure one day without even a word and his inability to find her since.

Yukino and her parents had all worked for the Eucliffe family, and lived within their estate grounds. Her dad was a butler, her mum was a cook, and Yukino was one of the maids that would keep the estate consistently clean. Sting rarely bumped into any of their household workforce since he was always out at school and other activities. He would often only come back in the evening, by which time most of the staff had retired for the day. The only one of them he regularly came into contact with would be her father, since he was always the face of the service of the house.

The first time he met her, he had been sick. A rare occurrence for Sting. It had been on a particularly busy day for the household staff, since they were preparing for a dinner with important guests coming to the house that evening. Yukino had been assigned to occasionally pop in on Sting to see if he needed anything, which would normally be her fathers job. They had started talking and Sting had been instantly captivated with her. After that he made an effort to be around the house more just so he could run into her. They became fast friends.

His father eventually caught on to Stings attraction to her and had told him he was not to pursue the girl, that she was not suitable for him. She kept him away from important meetings and gatherings which he would skip to be with her instead. His father was convinced she was a gold digger trying to nab a rich husband. Weisslogia had almost convinced Sting at one point that this was the case, after he showed him a load of images of Yukino all over a number of other rich men on nights out. One picture of the girl caught his eye. She was wearing a crop top and noticed the girl in the pictures had a tattoo on the right of her waist. Yukino had once shown him her own tattoo which was on the left side and was not the same as the one in the picture. It wasn't her. He wasn't sure if his father was trying to trick him, or it was a genuine mistake, the girl in the pictures looked identical to Yukino.

No matter what they felt for each other, she was under contract and was forbidden from having relationships with any members of the family she served. But Sting ignored his fathers warnings and continued spending time with her. He eventually couldn't hold back anymore and had kissed Yukino. Although Yukino had returned the kiss initially, she had eventually pulled away and ran off. That was the last time he saw her. Both Yukino and her family were gone in the days that followed. When Sting had questioned their whereabouts his father had simply said they had quit, he didn't know where they had gone.

"So how come this is such a big secret? Surely the more people looking out for her the better?" Gray queries.

"It's not that simple. Sting has reason to believe his father is behind her disappearance, and if that is the case there is a good chance he keeps tabs on her. If any of us are recognised talking to her, she could go missing again." I explain.

"It just sounds so far fetched." Gray looks skeptical.

"I know. But you're lucky enough to have a dad that is understanding and just wants you to be happy no matter what decisions you make. If Sting didn't know that his father has already had all of his friends followed at some point or another to investigate them, he might not have a reason to worry."

"What? Weisslogia actually done that?" Gray asks, surprised.

"Yep, Sting unintentionally found a load of files on his friends in his Dad's office, myself and Natsu included. I don't believe Weisslogia is a bad guy, but he's incredibly overprotective and cares what people think of his son. Unfortunately, I think his misguided attitude has taken over pretty much everything in Stings life. I know my dad likes a certain amount of control over me and Gajeel to maintain his reputation, but at least he doesn't have us followed."

"So you guys are trying to work out how to approach her without being seen in case she or any of you are being tracked." Gray nods his head in understanding. "But you and Natsu spoke to her, why can't you do that again?"

"We wore wigs last time, and we hardly interacted with her. We wouldn't have caused much attention. At least I hope we didn't. This time someone needs to properly speak to her, possibly even get her to meet with Sting somewhere away from prying eyes." Gray gives me a weird look.

"Wig?" He raises an eyebrow questionably.

"Natsu has a collection. He wore one and looked like you " I try and hide my smirk, but I can't. Gray grins back, obviously amused. "He hated it." I add. Gray bursts out laughing.

"What about you?"

"I had a blond one. Natsu said I looked like Lucy." I explain.

"Now that would be interesting..." Gray looks down in thought.

"Hey! Stop thinking about it! Do I have to be worried?! Is Lucy a love rival?!" I cry out. I'm partially joking but I do feel a small stab of jealousy in my chest. He chuckles at me.

"I'm only kidding." He grins as he pulls me closer, trying to claim my lips, but I turn away with a huff. I'm only teasing him. This doesn't discourage him though as he decides to bury himself in my neck, kissing there instead and running his hand over my body. I instantly melt.

"I thought we were having a serious conversation." I say but still run my fingers through his hair as he makes his way lower to my collarbone.

"Sex now, serious later." He mumbles into my skin, I giggle at his words.

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates this week, work is particularly busy and I struggled to write. Thank you to those who have left lovely comments on the story, I'm so glad you're enjoying it!**


	30. Chapter 29

Gray's POV

It's been three days since the Heartfilia summer party. Me and Juvia have mostly spent that time together. Turns out that Natsu and Sting had thought up a plan regarding Yukino over breakfast at the Heartfilia estate the day after the party, so Juvia didn't have to get involved. Natsu and Lucy had stayed at her fathers for the last few nights, however Lucy had returned this afternoon, Natsu had yet to come back. Lucy had said Natsu had gone off with Sting and would return later that evening. From what Juvia told me, I imagine they were putting their plan into action, whatever it was.

We only had a few more days until we would be returning home to prepare for our final year as undergraduates, although all of us planned to stay on to do our postgraduate degrees. We were spending this evening at the bar that became our favourite whilst in Akane, one overlooking the beach. All our friends were happily chatting to each other as usual, it still amazes me that we spend all that time together and still have things to talk about. Me and Juvia where tucked away in the corner of the decking on one of the sofas, her legs sprawled over my own, my arm supporting her back as we talk and laugh in our own bubble.

Suddenly, something catches her eye. I follow her eyesight but can't tell what she's so interested in.

"Juv? What are ya staring at?" I ask her curiously.

"Can you not see it?!" She exclaims, as if it was obvious. I shake my head at her. "Gajeel-Kun!"

"So? What about him?"

"Look how he's acting with Levy!" She says excitedly. I see Levy drunkenly dancing in a circle around Gajeel, while he stands there with his arms crossed watching her, not looking very amused.

"I don't get it? He look pissed off." I look at her confused.

"You're so dense Gray! When have you ever known Gajeel to tolerate someone like that." She smiles at them. Levy then jumps and holds on to Gajeel's neck, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Gajeel's eyes widen with shock, but his face softens.

"He's blushing! Gray he's blushing!" She whisper shouts, shaking me by my shirt in excitement.

"Juv calm down! Stop shaking me will ya!" She stops but then buries her face in my shoulder to suppress her delighted squeal. I can't help the smile that creeps on my face at my ridiculously crazy girlfriend.

"He never blushes! He likes her! Levy could be my future sister in law! I always wanted a sister! We even have the same hair colour! I'm so damn excited!" Her muffled voice sounds from my shoulder. I snort with laughter.

"Idiot, aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself. Plus, even if that is the case, who says she likes him." She looks up at me with a grin.

"I already know she does, and he so totally flirts with her."

"When? I haven't seen that!"

"Since the moment they met. All those short jokes, he's flirting!" Juvia explains.

"That's flirting?" Juvia face palms at my comment.

"It's like when a young boy likes a girl, but shows it by teasing her."

"So what you're saying is Gajeel flirts like a child?" I smirk. She playfully slaps my arm.

"No...well yes, but it's cute. I will have to question him later." She grins. "I bet that's how you acted towards girls when you were younger."

"Tch...no I didn't." I turn my head away, trying to conceal my heated face. In general I wasn't really bothered about girls as a kid, however I vaguely remember one that I did kinda like. It wasn't so much teasing, but I was cold towards her, I didn't know how to act at that young age. Not that I changed much in my later years either.

"Hmmm whatever you say Gray-sama." Her cheeky grin remains as she plants a kiss on my blushing cheek.

"Did you used to get teased because boys liked you? I bet you were a cute kid." I ask her, trying to divert her attention. We may have been friends for a long time, and we knew a lot about each other, but Juvia rarely talked about her time as a child before Jose adopted her, to anyone, even Gajeel. But I want to know all of her. I don't want to push her too much, she has already opened up a lot more in the last few days, revealing her past with Bora was huge for her. I thought this topic might a bit more of a lighthearted way to get a bit of insight.

"I got picked on a lot in the orphanage, but I don't think it's because they fancied me." She says as she looks down. She's still smiling but it wavered ever so briefly.

"Why did they pick on you?" Her smile turned sad.

"I wasn't the happiest of children. I have very few memories before the orphanage, I don't remember what my parents looked like, their names, where I came from...anything. The only reason they knew my first name was because I spoke in third person. The others kids always said I was gloomy."

I'm shocked by what she told me. I can certainly get that any child without a family or memories could go down that road, but it is so hard to imagine her being a sad and lonely child when you look at her now. So cheerful, confident, popular and full of life.

"You've never told me any of that before." I whisper to her.

"I know. I bottled everything up before. After telling you about Bora the other night, I felt the lightest I have felt in years and realised it might not be so bad to let someone in, if that someone is you. I had an unfortunate start, but I don't like to dwell on the past. After all, no matter how horrible that time in my life was, it lead me to where I am today. It lead me to you." She smiles, a blush forming. I smile back at her.

"I couldn't be more grateful for that." I press my lips against hers briefly. "You are free to tell me as much or as little as you want, but I will always listen. I want to know everything about you, flaws and all."

"That feeling goes both ways. You're also not a complete open book, I know there is stuff you don't like people knowing. When you're ready I hope you will let me in." Her smile is warm. I know what she is referring to, my mother. I don't talk about her.

"I would like that too, eventually." She pulls me in for another tender kiss. She won't rush me, and I appreciate that. That conversation got deep very quickly and unexpectedly, but I'm glad it did. I'm not ready to talk about my mum to her yet, but I think it will only be a matter of time. Once we pull apart, I decide to change the subject, that was enough for one night.

"So, did your plan to get Natsu and Lucy together work?"

"I don't know, I haven't had a chance to speak to Lucy since she got back. I certainly hope it has otherwise I will knock that flame brain out." She pouts. I laugh at her. Is it weird I find it attractive that she has picked up my term of calling Natsu flame brain?

"Speak of the devil..." ironically I see Natsu frantically looking around until he spots us and starts pacing over. Juvia turns to look at him as well.

"Juvia I need you to come to our room, now." He says urgently. We both give him a questionable look.

"What's wrong Natsu?" Juvia asks him.

"It's Sting. Lets just say his reunion with Yukino may not have been what he expected." He says, a glimmer of saddest runs through his features. I watch her eyes widen, she looks to me, I assume to silently ask permission to go. I still don't feel completely comfortable considering her previous relationship with Sting, but I do understand he is her good friend to her.

"Go, i'll wait down here." I say reluctantly.

"Actually Gray, could you come too? He's being a bit unpredictable, another pairs of hands might come in useful." I can't help but wonder what he means by that, but I nod in agreement anyway. I actually feel better I will be there with her. She gives me a small smile and grabs my hand as we make our way up to the room.


	31. Chapter 30

Juvia's POV

We enter the room to see Sting sitting on the sofa, head bowed down, bottle of beer in his hand.

"Sting?" I ask quietly as I kneel down in front of him, trying to see his face. He slowly leans his head to look at me, his eyes glazed over with unshed tears. "What happened?"

"She sent me away Juvia, said she didn't want anything to do with me." He replies sadly, turning away again. I can't hide my confused and shocked expression. I look at Natsu, Gray standing beside him, both with a sympathetic look on their faces.

"Sting...i'm so sorry...I don't know what to say." I tell him honestly. From the stories I heard about her from Sting and Natsu, I would never of guessed Yukino would turn him away. Why would she? At the very least they had been friends. I jump when Sting suddenly gets up and throws his bottle of beer at the wall in frustration, punching the wall following the bottle, it takes both Natsu and Gray to pull him away and restrain him.

"Hey man! Stop with the violence would ya! That's not helping anybody!" Natsu tells him, although this does nothing to calm Sting down.

"That's what you meant by unpredictable! Why would you bring Juvia up here when he's in this state!" Gray yells at Natsu while maintaining his hold a struggling Sting. Over my initial shock of his outburst, I start making my way in front of Sting.

"Juvia, don't come near him right now..." Gray starts, but I don't listen or let him finish. Without hesitation a wrap my arms around Stings waist, hugging him tightly. His movements slow down and I finally feel his body relax briefly, until I feel him start to shake.

"You guys can let go now." I tell Gray and Natsu. Natsu steps away with no arguments, Gray isn't so sure and doesn't let go until Natsu places a hand on his shoulder to force him to move away. Once freed from their grip, Sting's arms immediately hug me back, his head resting on my shoulder. I hear him start to sob, releasing the tears that he was holding but so badly needed to come out.

"That's why." I hear Natsu say to Gray with a sigh of relief, still holding onto Gray's shoulder. I can see Gray looks uncomfortable, but I can't worry about that right now. A friend who has helped me through so much is hurting, he needs comfort. I stand there quietly until Sting's tears slow down.

"Thanks Juvia." He whispers before lifting his head to step away from me. I give him a warm smile. He turns to look at the other two men. "I'm sorry for ruining your evening and being such a bother."

"You're not a bother man. How about you stay with us tonight, take my room." Natsu offers and leads Sting to his room, leaving me and Gray alone for a moment. Gray stares at the now closed door of Natsu's room, still looking apprehensive.

"Gray, you okay?" I ask.

"I don't like him being here when he can suddenly lash out like that." He responds bluntly. I don't blame him, for those who don't know Sting very well it is probably a bit shocking to see him lash out when he is normally seen to be cheery and calm. Me and Natsu both know he would never take it out on a person, only inanimate objects.

"He will be fine now. He just needed to let his emotions out." I try to reassure him. "Sometimes it just takes a little patience and understanding to get someone to calm down. You should know." He sighs, but gives me a small smile in understanding.

"You do have a way with people, don't ya." He pulls me to him. " I do feel bad for him, he's lucky to have you and Natsu as friends." At that moment, Natsu rejoins us.

"Natsu, what happened? I don't get it." I ask.

"Neither do I, her reactions don't match up at all." He responds in an equally confused tone to me. We all take a seat in the living room, as Natsu prepares to tell us the events of the evening.

"Turns out Mest is in charge of the security for the Heartfilia's, he overheard us talking about Yukino and said that she was his neighbour."

"Natsu! Why were you and Sting talking about it so openly that someone heard you?! You two are so indiscreet!" I scold, crossing my arms.

"Don't worry Juv! We were talking in private, it's just Mest has always had a talent for just appearing out of nowhere." Natsu says with a nervous grin and sweat drops.

"Who is Mest?" I ask, i've never heard of him before.

"Isn't that the son of that security guard who looked after Erza's home when we were younger?" Gray asks in recognition.

"That's the one. Turns out he followed in his dad's footsteps. Anyway he offered to help. He seemed like a good option, not only does he not come up in any of our files that Sting's dad has, but he's tactful." Natsu explains.

"Is he trustworthy though?" I can't help but be sceptical, it all seemed to convenient.

"It was our best option." Natsu shrugs. "And he delivered, I don't know how he did it, but he got Yukino to meet up with us without suspicion, from what we can tell anyway. She looked surprised at first and didn't move. Sting hugged her straight away, she seemed to snap out of it and gripped onto his shirt, for a brief moment I saw her smile and she looked happy to see him. But then she pushed him away. Told him he shouldn't be there, that her family moved to get away from the Eucliffe's and said she didn't want to see him. She looked like she was about to cry and ran off."

I feel my chest tighten at Natsu's story, it was so reminiscent to the last time Sting saw her. Her seemingly returning his feelings, then runs away from him.

"Sounds to me like she's pushing him away, but not actually wanting to." Gray says, his hand that is holding mine gripping tighter. We all nod in agreement.

"But the question is why? In his profession, Mest is naturally alert, and said he's never seen any indication that Yukino is being watched, at least not around her home. However, he did say he has noticed a man he doesn't recognise coming to visit her and her parents every now and then. Said the guy definitely didn't live in their town, everyone knows everyone there. Mest said he never thought of anything of it, and it might be nothing, but the guy doesn't hang around for long, so probably not a family member coming to visit. He will try and get a picture of the guy when he next sees him in case we recognise him. It might be a while though as he only saw the man a few days ago on the day of the Heartfilia party. It could be absolutely nothing though." Natsu explains.

"Well at the moment we don't have anything else to go on, so I guess for now we will just have to wait and see" I sigh, feeling slightly agitated that finding Yukino has answered no questions. In need of a lighter atmosphere, I decide to ask Natsu a question. "So Natsu, now you have given up your room to Sting for the night, where are you planning to sleep?"

"I will just sleep in Lucy's."

"You think she will be okay with that flame brain?" Gray smirks.

"Nah! She won't mind! I do it all the time anyway. Come on, let's go and drink with the others." With that, we follow Natsu towards the elevator, shaking our heads after him.

As soon as the elevator doors open on the ground floor, Natsu rushes out, not the least bit interested in waiting for me and Gray to catch up. I assume he's going to find Lucy. As we walk through the hotel lobby on our way back to the bar, Gray nudges me and indicates for me to look back towards the elevators. I turn to see Mira, happily chatting away to Laxus, who has his arm around her shoulders, looking down at her affectionally.

"No fricking way!" I gasp and quickly take out my phone.

"What are you doing Juvia?" Gray questions, an eyebrow raised but a grin on his face.

"What does it look like! I'm taking a photo as evidence. When have you ever seen Laxus make a face like that!" I exclaim. "Plus, it's about time she thinks about a relationship of her own."

"I think you have a bigger shipping problem than Mira does."

"Hey! There's nothing wrong about wanting your friends to be happy." He just continues to grin at me and shrugs. We finally make it to the others and decide to join Erza and Jellal who are sitting on the tall bar stools by the bar.

"Hey Erza, do you know if Natsu made a move on Lucy yet?" I ask her. She was aware of my chat with Natsu, and my efforts to get things moving forward for them.

"No, from what I can gather from Lucy, he only asked her to dance at that party, but nothing more happened." She says exasperatedly.

"Oh for crying out loud! This is so irritating!" I respond frustratedly, making a pouty face.

"You're not one to talk Juv. It took us years to get you and Gray together." Ezra smiles.

"That's different!" I exclaim, the pout on my face remains, but I can feel my cheeks starting to turn red.

"No it's not." Jellal adds bluntly, a small smile spread across his face.

"Maybe he's waiting for the right time? Her birthday is next week, maybe he will do it then so it will be special?" Ezra continues.

"I think you're giving Natsu to much credit Erza." Gray says with a skeptical look.

"Shut up Gray! I believe in Natsu." Erza frowns back at him.

"Yes ma'am." Gray quickly turns away from her glaring eyes.

"So Jellal, are you going straight back to Crocus, or are you coming back with us for a little while?" I ask.

"I'll be around until Lucy's birthday, then I will be heading back. I hope you guys don't mind me staying with you." He responds.

"Of course not, man. In fact, that means I get to keep my girlfriend for another week before Ezra starts stealing her from me." Gray states jokingly, but wraps his arm tighter around my waist. I just smirk at him.

"You need to learn to share Gray." Erza says defiantly.

"Erza." Jellal slurs in a warning tone, but he looks at her endearingly. It's Erza's turn to sulk as she looks down with a huff, crossing her arms. Gray grins triumphantly. I giggle, only a Jellal can get away with scolding her.


	32. Chapter 31

Gray's POV

A week later, we are back home in Magnolia. In a few days the new term will start, we will be thrown back into a routine of lectures and studying. Before that, we have our final days of relaxing and we have Lucy's birthday celebration. But right now, I am in Juvia's room, she is holding up a dress in each hand asking which one I like better. How does she expect me to look at dresses when she herself right now is only in a towel.

"I like what your in now." I smirk at her.

"You want me to go out in a towel?" Juvia raises one eyebrow, she looks amused though.

"Can't we just stay home! We only saw dad and Lyon just over a week ago, I don't need to see them again!" I whine. Dad and Ur have invited us over for dinner before all their children head back off to their respective universities.

"But you haven't seen Ur or Ultear in months, plus it's been forever since i've had Ur's cooking! Why don't you want to see your family Gray?" She tilts her head in question. I come closer to her, taking the dresses out of her hands and settling them down on the desk chair, placing my hands on her waist, and lean in for a quick kiss on her lips, trailing down her jaw to her ear.

"I'd rather have you all to myself. There's always so many people around, trying to get your attention. I don't like sharing." I whisper. "Plus, no one else is home, we can be loud." I quickly pull the towel off her and pick her up by her thighs. She squeals in surprise and and wraps her arms around my neck for support. She giggles as I drop her on her bed and lie on top of her.

"We will be late." She tries to argue, but she's hardly fighting back as I run my mouth over her neck and collarbone.

"I don't care! They won't mind if we are a little late." I mumble into her skin. "You're already naked, that saves a lot of time. I'm quite quick at stripping off myself." I hear her burst out laughing.

"Gray, look at yourself, you've already stripped." I look down to see she is right, I am completely naked. I have no idea when I did that?

"Told you. I'm that efficient." I laugh with her.

"Still though. You know I hate being late! I haven't even chosen what to wear...ahhh!" Having enough of her protests, I cover a nipple with my mouth and swirl my tongue around it, earning myself a gasp from her. I've learnt that her breasts are particularly sensitive, give them enough attention and it shouldn't take long before she wants more. I briefly glance up to see her eyes closed, biting her lip to try and suppress her moans.

I smirk before switching over to give the other nipple the same treatment. This time she grabs onto my hair as she whimpers beneath me. At this point I know i've won her over. I give her other breast a hearty squeeze before running it down her waist, hips, finally grabbing her ass. I start moving my lips towards her naval, at that moment she appears to gain a little bit of her mind back.

"If we're doing this hurry up!" She demands in a breathless state. "We don't have time for teasing." I chuckle at her impatience and that she just can't let it go.

"As you wish." I know exactly how to get her and myself off quickly. I immediately bury my face between her legs, circling my tongue around her clit at a steady pace. I hear here cry out as she bucks her hips up. I can't help but grin, I love going down on her, the instantaneous reactions I receive from her is such a turn on. The way she is unable to keep still so I have to hold her hips down, and the loud moans that send jolts down my spine straight to my erection.

I look up at her, the sight making me harder if that was possible. Both hands reaching above her clasping her pillow, back arched, eyes closed and her pretty face contoured in pleasure. I can't resist sliding my right hand up to firmly grasp her breast, rolling the nipple between my fingers as I close my mouth around her and gentle suck, the way I knew she liked.

"Mmmm...Gray...ohh!" she pants, I can feel her thighs trembling, she's getting close. Before she reaches the point of no return, I crawl back up her body and crash my lips onto hers.

"On your fours Juvia." I command while moving off her, lightly tapping her hip to hurry her along. She looks up at me, I can see the slight surprise in her face. We've been a couple for almost three weeks, still being in that phase where we can't get enough of each other, we have had a lot sex. A lot. But this would be the first time I've asked to take her from behind. Strategically so.

She obediently obeys and rolls onto her stomach, propping her ass up in the air and supporting her weight on her elbows. I groan internally at the view, this isn't going to take long at all. I position myself behind her, rubbing my cock against her wet folds first, before slowly entering her.

Both of us let out a loud moan as I bury myself fully in her. I hold still for a moment, trying to regain some composure. All I want is to pound into her, but I have to get her on the edge first. I reach around to press two fingers firmly on her clit, recreating the circular motions I made with my tongue earlier, as I slowly start thrusting in and out of her. Even at this slow pace it feels too good. This position puts my brain into sensory overload, the sound, sight and feel of her. I try and focus on her pleasure rather than my own. For the moment I try and look at anything but her.

"Gray." I look down to see her looking back at me over her shoulder. Shit, why does she has to be so damn hot! "I'm so close...faster...please." She whimpers.

I take a deep breath and do as she asks and gradually increase my speed of both my thrusts and fingers. I watch her hands grip the bedsheets as she gasps. I can already feel her walls clutching tighter around me, thank god she wasn't lying that she was close as I feel my own release building way too quickly.

"Ngh...fuck!...Juv...come for me." I rasp out, knowing I'm not gonna last. Moments later she does as she's told and lets out a loud cry and tightens around me as her orgasm washes over her. I finally let both my hands grab her hips and pound into her roughly. It only takes a few more thrusts before I follow her.

I collapse next to her, pulling her closer to me. She wraps her arms around my neck as we lean in for a kiss, despite both of us still panting.

"Was that quick enough?" I tease when i've gained my breath back.

She giggles as she nods. "You are way to good at that."

"Be careful about praising me Juv, keep doing that and we will never leave this bedroom." I can't help but feel the pride swell in my chest. "Wasn't that worth being a bit late."

Her eyes widen at my comment then suddenly lets out a squeal as she sits up abruptly.

"Owwww Juv, my ears!"

"We're gonna be late!" She quickly gets up and rushes to put in one of the discarded dresses from earlier. I chuckle at her, lateness is one of her pet peeves, especially when she is late herself.

"Stop smirking! Put some damn clothes on!" She says frustratedly as she throws my trousers at me.

"You didn't want me wear them a moment ago." I snigger. She pouts. No matter how many times I see it, that look on her face is just so darn cute.

"Shut up Gray!"

**A/N: I'm sorry! I know that's the longest I've ever taken to update! Work is busy and although I know where I want the story to go I'm suffering a bit of writers block trying to get there, probably not helped by my tiredness. So I threw in a chapter purely for Gruvia sexy times while I try and work on the progression of the story.**


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